Assam Prepares for Elections with EVM and VVPAT Demonstrations

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: With the general election to the Assam Legislative Assembly approaching, demonstrations of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will be held across the state from Thursday, February 5.

The Election Department, Assam, said it has taken the initiative following a directive from the Election Commission of India (ECI) and that the demonstrations are part of the preparations for the election. 

According to Election Department sources, the demonstrations will take place in both static centers and mobile vans equipped with EVMs and VVPATs. The emphasis during the demonstrations will be spreading awareness among the electors about how to cast their votes during the election.

One of the main targets of the demonstrations will be spreading awareness among first-time voters and people in remote areas in the state. Teams will take the machines in mobile vans to colleges and universities, where demonstrations will be conducted on the voting procedure and the students will be able to participate in mock voting. As in real voting, slips from the VVPATs will be generated during the mock voting as well.

Election Department sources further stated that a team from the ECI will visit Assam on Feb 8 and 9 to take stock of poll preparedness. The team will interact with various officials in the districts, like district commissioners, senior superintendents of police, and other senior functionaries.

Currently, the Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls is being carried out, and the final electoral roll will be published on February 12.

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