Names of candidates and party symbols being inserted in each Electronic Voting Machine

Mysore/Mysuru: A team of 22 engineers from Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad, has arrived in Mysuru to check the control units and ballot units of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) that will be used in the forthcoming elections.

The engineers’ team is led by Suresh Babu Kagitha, who is the Technical Manager and he will be the in-charge of the processes. The team has come to Mysuru based on the directives from the Election Commission.

It may be noted here that the EVMs and VVPATs have been manufactured by ECIL and the brand-new machines were brought to Mysuru and stored at EVM Warehouse near the new Deputy Commissioner’s Office on Bannur Road.

Speaking to Star of Mysore this morning, Mysuru District EVM and VVPAT Nodal Officer G.T. Dinesh Kumar, who is also the Commissioner of Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), said that the engineers will set up the EVMs and keep it ready for voting.

“We have received the final list of candidates in the fray — 143 candidates in 11 constituencies — from the Deputy Commissioner, who is also the District Electoral Officer. The names and symbols of the candidates have to be inserted in the EVMs as per the prescribed order and there are set norms to follow along with adding the NOTA option,” he said.

“The process of setting the EVMs to be used in the booths of Chamaraja and Narasimharaja Constituencies has begun and the other Constituencies will be taken up in the due course,” he added.