- The Rajya Sabha is set to debate electoral reforms following notices given by Opposition parties.
- The ruling party is pushing for the simultaneous elections idea whereas the Opposition wants to raise discrepancies in the Electronic voting machines(EVM).
- The Opposition parties have been demanding that at least 50% of the voter verified paper trail(VVPAT) entries should be tallied with the EVM counts in every constituency.And the VVPATs should be counted first instead of the EVMs.
- Other than the EVMs,the parties are expected to ask for state funding for polls as recommended by the Indrajit Gupta report of 1998.They will also raise the issue of misuse of social media such as Facebook during the elections.
- EVMs are electronic voting machines which enable the voter with a button for each choice. It is attached by a cable to an electronic ballot box.It comprises of two units – control unit and balloting unit.
- The control unit is with the Election Commission selected polling officer while the Balloting Unit is in the voting section into which the voter enters to cast their vote.
- Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is an independent system attached to an EVM that allows the voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended.It helps to detect any possible election fraud or malfunction of EVMs
