With the Election Commission gearing up for the 17th Lok Sabha election, that will be held in seven phases across the country, political parties, as well as, voters have shifted into the election mode. Almost 90 crore eligible voters will cast their votes to elect their preferred candidates, out of which 1.5 crore individuals will vote for the first time.

Before electronic voting machine (EVM) was brought to force, paper ballots were widely used to cast the votes during the elections. In 1996, about 8,800 tonnes of paper was used in the election while the amount was reduced to 7,700 tonnes in 1999.

Now with the introduction of VVPAT machines, it is suggested that the quantity of paper used during the election will be reduced significantly.

VVPAT stands for Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail. It is an independent system attached with the electronic voting machine (EVM) that allows the voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended.

First Published:Mar 12, 2019 3:51 PM IST