New Delhi – Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar clarified on Saturday that the VVPAT slips found outside a polling station in Sariranjan, Samastipur, were only from a mock poll and did not threaten the election’s integrity.
Kumar told reporters at Nirvachan Sadan that the incident involved a small batch of early‑poll slips and that the overall voting process was safe. He ordered the district magistrate to inspect the site immediately.
The magistrate, Roshan Kumar, said his first check confirmed the slips were from the mandatory mock poll that takes place at 5.30 a.m. in every constituency. In Bihar’s election rules, officials cast 50 mock votes in front of polling agents to test the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the VVPAT paper trail. After the test, the slips are destroyed under CCTV supervision.
“We started an investigation,” said Kumar, adding that the assistant returning officer (ARO) for Rosera was put on suspension and an FIR has been filed under Section 188 of the IPC for disobeying an ECI order.
Sources explained that the ARO, a senior Bihar Administrative Service officer, left the booth temporarily after the mock poll and asked a junior staff member to clear the slips. The junior worker mistakenly discarded them outside the 100‑meter safe zone. CCTV footage from 6.12 a.m. shows a sanitation worker sweeping the area, inadvertently scattering the slips.
To ensure any later doubt is answered, the Election Commission’s technical team performed a fresh VVPAT‑EVM matching exercise at the booth. All agents saw a 100 % match.
Voting resumed on schedule, with 68 % of voters casting their ballots by 5 p.m., a turnout higher than the constituency average.
Looking ahead, the ECI has announced new safety measures: biometric verification of all mock‑poll disposal and real‑time GPS tracking of waste bins at sensitive booths.
“Every slip, every vote, every doubt is tackled with evidence,” said the Chief Election Commissioner, re‑affirming public confidence as the final voting phase approaches on November 11.
Source: ianslive
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