The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) has said there is no provision for the use of ‘Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail’ (VVPAT) machines in the laws or rules relating to local body elections in the state.
Opposition parties have demanded that VVPAT machines be used to ensure transparency in the upcoming local body elections.
Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Vijay Wadettiwar had said that if the use of VVPAT machines is not possible, then elections to rural and urban bodies should be conducted through ballot papers.
Elections for various local bodies including Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in the state are to be held by January 2026. The State Election Commission said in a statement issued on Wednesday that barring a few exceptions, almost all local body elections are conducted under the multi-member ward system.
The Commission said that the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) with the participation of all the State Election Commissions of the country is studying to develop voting machines compatible with VVPAT.
According to the Commission, the final report of the committee has not been submitted yet, hence use of VVPAT in local body elections is not possible at present.
The SEC said that the provision for use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in local body elections was added in the relevant Acts and Rules in the year 2005, but there is no legal provision related to the use of VVPAT till now.
