EC begins manufacturing 0.89 mn new VVPATs ahead of Lok Sabha polls

The Election Commission has started preparing for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls by commencing the manufacturing of 8.92 lakh new Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines and retiring 2.71 lakh such M2 model machines, sources said on Wednesday.

They also said the poll panel has identified 3.43 lakh VVPATs for "preventive maintenance" and 2.43 lakh for upgrade to reduce nachine replacement rate.

The poll panel undertakes the exercise of checking electronic voting machines and paper trail machines ahead of every Lok Sabha polls, the sources said.

They said the Commission has undertaken a detailed "preparatory exercise" for next Lok Sabha polls by reviewing VVPAT stocks by retiring obsolete M2 type machines, producing new VVPATs, upgrading VVPAT to M3 from available upgradable 'M2M3' machines and carrying out preventive maintenance of 3.43 lakh such machines.

Referring to media reports regarding defects in VVPATs, they said that 3.43 lakh VVPATs were identified for preventive ..