Bihar elections: VVPAT slips found dumped in Samastipur, FIR registered

The Election Commission on Saturday ordered the registration of a first information report after a video surfaced on social media showing a large number of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail slips dumped in Shitalpatti village of Bihar's Samastipur district amid the Assembly elections, reported ANI.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar later stated that the slips were those generated during a mock poll held before the first phase of voting on Thursday to check the machines. He also ordered the suspension of the additional returning officer of Sarairanjan Assembly constituency in Samastipur, according to the news agency.

A Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail, or VVPAT, is a machine that prints a paper slip of the candidate's name, serial number and the party's symbol after people have cast their vote. To avoid election fraud, it displays the paper slip for seven seconds for people to check if their vote has been cast correctly.

Earlier in the day, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, part of the Opposition Mahagathbandhan alliance in the state, shared the video of the slips on social media and asked the Election Commission to clarify on whose orders they were thrown.

“This incident is raising serious questions about the Election Commission,” said the Congress.

In response, the District Magistrate-cum-District Election Officer of Samastipur, Roshan Kushwaha, stated that he, along with the superintendent of police, had arrived at the spot after the video surfaced and conducted an inspection.

“In the presence of candidates from various parties, the aforementioned shredded and unshredded slips have been duly seized,” stated the district magistrate. “In connection with the said incident, a formal first information report has been registered at Sarairanjan police station, and necessary investigation is being conducted.”

According to Kushwaha, mock polls are conducted on 5% of the Electronic Voting Machines, with around 1,000 votes cast on each to test them, reported The Indian Express.

“Additionally, during commissioning, each candidate's button is pressed to verify that the correct symbol has been loaded,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “These mock polls generate a significant number of VVPAT slips.”

The chief election commissioner stated that as the slips were of mock polls, the “integrity of the polling process remains uncompromised”, reported ANI.

“Contesting candidates have also been informed by the DM,” he added.

Voting for 121 of the 243 Assembly seats in the first phase of the Bihar elections took place on Thursday. The provisional voter turnout was 64.6%, adding that it was the highest ever voter turnout in Bihar.

The second phase of polling will be held on November 11 and the results will be declared on November 14.

Follow Scroll's coverage of the Bihar polls here.

Source: Scroll
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