In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission (EC) is set to replace the printed circuit board (PCB) of 2.2 lakh Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines as a part of routine maintenance, according to top EC officials.

The EC had on January 27, 2022 written to all chief electoral officers of states and Union Territories, apart from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep, saying that “all M3-VVPATs” of the series numbers mentioned “are required to be shifted to the manufacturers” Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) Bengaluru and Panchkula and Electronics Corporation of India (ECIL) in Hyderabad. As per the letter, a total of 3,43,741 VVPATs were to be shifted to the manufacturers for various tasks of rectification from February to August 2022.

While some VVPATs from 33 states and UTs were listed for rectification, about 74% of the VVPATs needing repairs were from seven states and UTs — West Bengal (76,151), Uttar Pradesh (60,726), Tamil Nadu (39,139), Madhya Pradesh (28,886), Assam (22,436), Haryana (13,807) and Jammu and Kashmir (13,580).

The EC letter to CEOs asked them to send the VVPATs in “defective” state. This, a senior EC functionary said, meant that the VVPATs in question would be marked defective in the internal management system but that did not mean that they were indeed defective. This would ensure that the machines are not returned without checking in front of representatives of political parties, as per protocol. The exercise was carried out after a routine review after the 2019 elections but got delayed due on the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the functionary said.

The EC functionary said the commission had started the process of manufacturing 8.93 lakh new VVPATs, retiring 2.71 lakh old M2 models, conducting preventive maintenance on 3.43 lakh and upgrading 2.43 lakh to reduce the replacement rate during polls. In the 2019 elections, the EC had deployed 17.4 lakh VVPATs, which allow the voters to see a paper slip to confirm their vote before it falls into a box.

The VVPAT, compared to the Electronic Voting Machine and its Ballot Unit and Control Unit, was more susceptible to failure, particularly being affected by the weather, the functionary said. For instance, high temperature or moisture can lead to the paper slip getting stuck or crumpled.

Out of the 3.42 lakh VVPATs, 2.62 lakh had been rectified to improve the way the paper slip falls and 1.94 lakh had their degraded sensors replaced. The functionary said the process of replacing the printed circuit board of 2.2 lakh VVPATs was yet to be started. Since there may be overlaps in the number of tasks required per machine, many of these would have already been transported to the manufacturers. Replacement of defective multilayer ceramic capacitors, which are expected in less than 5% of VVPATs that become non-functional, had also been done.

The EC letter had instructed the district election officers to label the VVPATs in question as “defective” in the EVM Management System, identify and segregate them from other VVPATs. The poll panel said the CEOs of the state in question would bear the packing and transportation charges and depute officials to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) for sending the VVPATs.

“Adequate foolproof security arrangements, ensuring the integrity of EVMs and VVPATs, would be made for the transportation of the machines and the movement of each of the vehicle carrying VVPATs should be closely monitored on a daily basis, until it reaches the destination, by the Chief Electoral Officers/District Election Officers of the concerned state through which the vehicle carrying VVPATs are to pass,” the EC wrote.

The vehicles were to be fitted with GPS devices and be labelled with signage on the windscreen saying “Election Materials-Urgent”. “Recognised national and state political parties shall be invited to remain present at the time of opening and closing of warehouses,” it said.

The letter said it was in reference to a previous EC letter dated October 8, 2021 that had “repair” in its subject line.

Asked for a comment on the movement of VVPATs, the repair carried out and the restoration of the machines to the states, the EC spokespersons declined to comment. BEL declined to comment and ECIL did not respond to multiple requests for comment.