EVM is no issue now: Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra

New Delhi, Jan 8: The use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) is no issue now, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said on Saturday, asserting that there is a sense of pride that India has developed a machine which gives accurate and faster results. His remarks came at a press conference convened to announce the assembly election schedule for Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand.

Responding to a question on parties losing elections questioning the credibility of EVMs, Chandra said, "EVM is no issue now." "EVM is in existence since 2004 and more than 315 crore voters have used EVM. We feel proud that this country has developed such a machine which gives accurate and faster results," he said.

At least one ballot unit and one control unit make an EVM. The Election Commission will deploy Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) along with EVM at every polling station in the assembly elections of the five states to increase transparency and credibility of the election process as VVPAT -- also called paper trail machines -- allows a voter to verify her or his vote.

Arrangements have already been made to ensure availability of adequate number of EVMs and VVPATs for the smooth conduct of elections, the EC statement on the poll schedule said. PTI