Voters in Goa will now be able to visually verify their vote, thanks to Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) to be introduced in upcoming state legislative assembly elections, a senior poll official said on Monday.
According to Siva Raman, nodal officer for computer sessions for the Election Commission of India, the VVPAT is a "completely independent vote verification system", which is attached to an electronic voting machine like a printer and allows the voter to know whether the vote has been cast correctly or not.
"Once the button of his choice is pressed by the voter on the EVM, a printed paper will appear containing the name of the candidate and poll symbol, so the voter can verify and visually ensure the vote has been cast correctly, " Raman said.
"After the voter views the receipt, it goes inside a container linked to the EVM, which can be accessed only by the polling officers, " Raman said at a meeting of poll officials with representatives of district administration and political parties in Panaji.
"This latest system is another step further towards prevention of electoral fraud, " he said, adding that the VVPAT could help virtually eliminate manipulation of poll results.
Elections to the state legislative assembly are likely to be held in Goa early next year.