Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi on Saturday touched a raw nerve when he ignited the debate on the safety of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) that have replaced paper ballots in elections. Quraishi tweeted expressing his concerns. “If reports of outsourcing of EVMs’ first and second level checks are true, it is disconcerting. Must be stopped forthwith. Custodial security of the machines is central to EVM security,” he tweeted. The former top election officer went on to explain that Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) had made the EVMs more “transparent” and “safer”. “With the introduction of VVPAT - Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, the EVMs have become safer and more transparent. 100% machines in both HP and Gujarat are attached with VVPAT,” Quraishi said in another tweet. Quraishi tweeted once more, “I got VVPAT machines made and tested. A whole day test was conducted in 5 different regions. Since many bugs were discovered, the Coys were asked to rectify these. Only after EC was sure, it was introduced.”

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