Mysore/Mysuru: Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are safe and none can tamper it, clarified State Election Commi-ssioner and retired IAS Officer P.S. Vastrad.

Addressing a meeting of District-Level Officers at Zilla Panchayat auditorium this morning, he asked the people not to fall prey to vilification campaign by some vested interests claiming that the EVMs could be misused to favour a particular party. This was totally false and baseless. Already, the Government of India has clarified that the EVMs cannot be tampered by anyone. This message needs to be percolated to villages where some people have doubts about it, he said.

Vastrad said help of High School students must be taken to create awareness among people on the importance of voting in democracy. Since online classes are going on due to closure of Schools, a brief programme on voting could be broadcast to create awareness. The help of Department of Public Instruction must be taken in this regard, he said.

Besides, literature on voting on YouTube and other social media could be shown for the sake of citizens, he noted.

Stressing on the importance of Voters’ Awareness Forum, he said the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zilla Panchayat will be the Chairman and Secretary will be Member-Secretary of this Forum. This platform could be used to conduct meetings and create voting awareness on enrolment of names, voting percentage, voting pattern among people. 

A video on this could be put up in the Government website. In fact, Karnataka has been appreciated by many States for successfully conducting of elections, the Officer said.

Vastrad called upon officials to make use of technology on creating awareness among people and this will strengthen the country’s democractic system. 

ZP CEO A.M.Yogesh, DDPI Ramachandraraje Urs, Election-Tahsildhar at DC’s Office Ramaprasad and others were present at the meeting.