The Election Commission has decided to use Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) along with Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) at every Polling Station, in the poll-bound states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Puducherry. This decision was taken to with a view to enhance the transparency and credibility of the election process, as VVPAT allows the voter to verify his/her vote.<br />'' <br />''In order to ensure transparency, EVMs/VVPATs are randomized twice using EVM Management System (EMS) while being allocated to an Assembly Constituency and then to a polling booth ruling out any fixed allocation.<br />'' <br />''On the polling day, 90 minutes before start of the actual poll, a mock poll is conducted by casting at least 50 votes at every Polling Station, in the presence of polling agents of the candidates and the electronic result of the Control Unit and the VVPAT slips count are tallied and shown to them. Immediately after mock poll, the CLEAR button on Control Unit (CU) is pressed to clear the data of the mock poll and to ensure that no votes are recorded. EVMs and VVPATs are then sealed in the presence of polling agents and signature of polling agents are obtained on seals, before starting actual poll.<br />'' <br />''After completion of poll, EVMs and VVPATs are sealed in the respective carrying cases in the presence of polling agents and the polled EVMs and VVPATs are escorted back to the strong room for storing in double lock system in the presence of candidates or their representatives under videography. These strong rooms are guarded 24×7 in multilayers, with CCTV facilities.<br />'' <br />''On the day of counting, before retrieving the result from the Control Units, the seals are verified and unique serial numbers of CU is tallied before counting agents deputed by the candidates.<br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">In pursuance of the Supreme Court's order, the Commission has also mandated that VVPAT slips count of five randomly selected Polling Stations in each Assembly Constituency will be done for verification of the result obtained from the Control Unit. This mandatory verification of VVPAT slips will be  in addition to the provisions of Rule 56(D) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961.</span><br />