Staff Reporter
GUWAHAT: With the Assembly election barely five months away, the first level checking (FLC) of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Assam will start on December 11. The EVM checking exercise will take around a month.
The FLC of EVMs and VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) is a critical, multi-step process conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) before every election to ensure the machines are fully functional, authentic, and ready for use.
FLC is performed exclusively by authorised engineers from two public sector undertakings, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), that also manufacture the machines. Since the EVMs of Assam are ECIL-manufactured ones, only ECIL engineers will conduct the FLC in the state.
According to sources in the Election Department of Assam, ECIL engineers will arrive in the state before December 11, 2025. The EVMs are now in various districts in the state.
The entire process of FLC is conducted in the presence of representatives of recognised national and state political parties, who are invited in writing by the District Election Officer (DEO).
All activities and the status of each machine (FLC OK or defective) are recorded in the EVM Management System (EMS) software for transparent tracking. The last Assembly poll in Assam was in three phases on March 27, April 1, and April 6, 2021.
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