The Chief Election Officer of Maharashtra has dismissed allegations of discrepancies between VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) slips and Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) counts in the recently concluded state elections. Opposition parties had raised concerns about vote mismatches, but officials affirmed that the mandatory verification process revealed no inconsistencies.

According to Supreme Court and Election Commission (EC) guidelines, the VVPAT slips of five randomly selected polling stations in each Assembly constituency must be tallied with the corresponding EVM data. On November 23, the day of vote counting, this process was conducted in the presence of Counting Observers and representatives of political candidates.

The Chief Election Officer stated, “The slip count of 1,440 VVPAT units from 288 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra was matched with the Control Unit data. No discrepancies were found, and the process adhered strictly to the Election Commission’s procedures.”

These findings come amid ongoing skepticism from the Opposition regarding the credibility of EVMs. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance—comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP factions—has announced plans for a nationwide protest, blaming EVMs for its poor electoral performance in Maharashtra.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has called for a return to ballot paper voting, stating at a recent event, “Votes of marginalized communities are being wasted. We must demand voting by ballot paper to ensure fairness.”

Union Minister Piyush Goyal, however, dismissed the allegations as baseless and challenged Opposition leaders to resign if they lack faith in EVMs. “If they don’t trust the process, their MPs and MLAs should step down, and re-elections can be held,” Goyal said.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, speaking at an NDTV event, expressed confidence in India’s electoral system. Highlighting the resilience of Indian voters, he noted, “This country resolves its issues through ballots, not bullets.” He also criticized the rising trend of unwarranted criticism, saying it undermines positive democratic progress.

Despite the EC’s assurances, the EVM versus ballot paper debate remains a contentious issue, with the Opposition continuing to push for reforms in India’s voting system.