Chief Election commissioner debunks failure of EVMS, VVPAT

The Chief Election Commissioner on Tuesday refuted reports of large-scale failure of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in the bye-elections held yesterday.

Speaking to ANI, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat said, "There were absolutely no problems in EVMs yesterday, yes problems were noticed in the VVPATs which was used for the first time in these constituencies and by the polling parties."

During the polling in 14 Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies in ten states of India, faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were reported from many booths.
11 faulty EVMs were reported across polling booths in Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha constituencies of Maharashtra. Four VVPATs at three booths were replaced during polling in Punjab's Shahkot.

Many political parties in Uttarakhand also demanded a new EVM after mock poll at a polling booth in Tharali's Sarpani area due to the same reason.
For the unversed, bypolls were held in 4 Lok Sabha seats and 10 assembly constituencies in many states yesterday. The counting of votes will be held on May 31.

(ANI)