Bhadradri Kothagudem, May 27 -- A philanthropist, Nalla Suresh Reddy, based at Paloncha in Kothagudem district, has raised a significant debate over accountability and auditability of the electoral process by submitting to the Supreme Court that the absence of exact time-stamping on VVPAT slips leaves a significant audit gap.

Form 17A records voter participation; Form 17C records the account of votes; the Control Unit records vote totals; and the WPAT slips evidence of the voter's selected candidate. Yet, where a dispute concerns the timing, sequence, late-hour surge, complaint window, booth-level abnormality or post-poll discrepancy, the physical paper trail itself remains silent on the exact time at which the vote was cast and recorded...