New Delhi, May 3: The Supreme Court will hear next week a plea seeking the counting of slips stored in Voter Verified Paper Audit Trials (VVPAT) machines attached with at least 50 per cent of all the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used for Lok Sabha elections 2019. The petition has been moved by 21 Opposition parties, including the Congress.

The petitioners had reached the apex court last month, asking the judiciary to intervene in the matter as a significant section of the electorate have expressed doubt over the counting of EVMs. What Is EVM and How Does It Work? All FAQs Answered

"It has been reported that in some cases where voters would vote for one party, EVMs would record their vote having been cast for another party," the petition had said.

The petition also pointed out the alleged EVM glitches observed in Andhra Pradesh during first phase of the Lok Sabha polls.

"Polling had to be delayed in 618 polling booths (in Andhra Pradesh) and 20 polling booths reported law and order problems. These subsequent occurrences make mandatory random check against VVPAT even more crucial than before," it states.

The Election Commission, before this elections, used to physically count the the VVPAT paper slips of one EVM per constituency. The Supreme Court had last month ordered the polling body to increase its VVPAT matching count to 5 EVMs per seat.

EC officials have expressed apprehension over the Opposition's demand to raise it to 50 per cent of all EVMs, claiming that it would rapidly increase the time and manpower involved.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while recently addressing a rally in Jharkhand's Lohardaga, said the Opposition is making EVMs the scapegoat as they have been rejected by majority of the voters across the nation. "First they were abusing Modi. That didn't work, so now they are abusing the EVM," he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 03, 2019 11:48 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).