NEW DELHI, India, April 16 (ANI): The Election Commission of India has commenced the commissioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) for constituencies in Tamil Nadu and the first phase of polls in West Bengal scheduled for April 23.
According to an official release, the commissioning process began in the presence of candidates or their authorized representatives, along with General Observers.
The Commission stated that the exercise will be followed by a mock poll of 1,000 votes in 5 percent of the EVMs, which will be randomly selected by candidates or their representatives. Candidates will also be allowed to conduct mock polls independently.
Before commissioning, EVMs were allocated to polling stations through a two-stage randomization process using the EVM Management System (EMS). In the first stage, machines were randomly distributed from district-level warehouses to Assembly constituencies. In the second stage, they were further randomized and assigned to individual polling stations.
As per official data, a total of 75,064 polling stations in Tamil Nadu and 44,378 polling stations in West Bengal (Phase-1) will go to the polls on April 23.
The first round of randomization was conducted by District Election Officers in the presence of representatives of recognized national and state political parties. The second round was carried out by Returning Officers in the presence of contesting candidates, their agents, and General Observers.
The Commission said constituency-wise lists of the first randomized EVMs and VVPATs were shared with representatives of all recognized political parties at district headquarters. Subsequently, the machines were stored in Assembly-level strong rooms under the supervision of political party representatives.
It added that the lists of both the first and second randomized EVMs and VVPATs have been shared with all contesting candidates to ensure transparency in the electoral process. (ANI)
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