In preparation for the Assembly polls slated for February 2022, new EVMs with VVPATs have been received by the Election Commission in Goa. Machines are made to do what they are programmed to do. To convince all the parties that these EVMs will not be manipulated, the ECI should conduct a demonstration in the presence of officially deputed representatives of all the political parties that EVMs along with the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) register voting accurately and that all the votes cast and the VVPATs counted tally perfectly. In previous years, apprehensions about the manipulation of EVMs have been widely believed and thus it would be in the fitness of things that the ECI should conduct a transparent demonstration in the presence of representatives of all Goan political parties such so that all are satisfied that counting of votes cast on EVMs and tallying with the VVPATs will not lead to manipulation but will be accurate, beyond doubt. For the Election Commission such a demonstration will reinforce their integrity.
