VVPAT training of election officials starts in poll bound Tripura

Agartala (Tripura) [India] Nov. 6 (ANI): The Tripura Election Commission has started preparing for next year's assembly elections in the state.

After updating of the electoral roll, the poll body has started imparting training to its staff about using of the VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) machine, which shall be used for the first time in the state.

Recently, Sriram Taranikanti, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Tripura Election Commission, informed that there have been regular demands for using VVPATs during elections as few political parties have alleged that EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) may not be completely secure and tamper proof.

To overcome such doubts, the state election commission had requested the Election Commission of India (ECI) to use VVPAT for the next assembly election.

The department has arranged the training of VVPAT at the Umakanta Academy here.

Prithviraj Debnath, a trainee official, said, "Today, we have gathered here to undergo training of the VVPAT machines, which shall assure a voter that his vote has gone for whom he had voted. This is going to benefit all of us during election."

Tamal Majumder, an official of the state election commission, said, "Similar training has also been arranged in other parts of the state for polling officials besides awareness of the representatives of the various political parties."

Bimal Das, an official of the ECIL (Electronics Corporation of India Ltd), said that awareness about the VVPAT machines is going on.

He added that for the first time it was used during 2013 Nagaland election followed by other parts of the country.

Considered as the second line of verification during ballotless voting process, the VVPAT is also a method of providing feedback to voters to verify that the polled vote goes to the correct candidate besides they are useful in the time when allegations around EVM tampering crop up. (ANI)