Election Preparations: Assam seeks 16,500 more EVMs from ECI

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: In tune with the preparations for the upcoming Assembly polls in the state, the first-level checking (FLC) of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines) and VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) in the state ended today. Assam will need 16,500 more EVMs for the election, and this requirement has been communicated by the Election Department, Assam, to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Before any general election, the FLC of EVMs and VVPATs is mandatory. This process has been completed in the state in accordance with the directive of the ECI.

Engineers of ECIL (Electronic Corporation India Ltd), which manufactures EVMs and VVPATs, checked more than 50,000 sets of machines in the presence of election officers and representatives of political parties. The team found many of the EVMs and VVPATs to be defective and segregated them before sending them to the ECIL headquarters in Hyderabad, while the machines without any defects have been kept in the strong rooms in 35 election districts.

Post the FLC process, the Election Department, Assam, carried out a tally of the EVMs and VVPATs and calculated the number of such machines that will be required in addition to the sets of machines found to be sound. The department estimated that around 16,500 additional EVMs and VVPATs were required. The department also communicated its requirement to the ECI.

Sources in the Election Department, Assam, said that ECIL will provide the required number of additional sets of EVMs. Once the machines arrive, they will be tested once again by the department.

After ECI approved 1,830 more polling stations, the state currently has 31,486 polling stations.

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