District Administration gears up for randomisation of EVMs and VVPATs

Mysore/Mysuru: With the Lok Sabha polls round the corner, the district administration has geared up for randomisation of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), that would be done once the Election Commission of India (ECI) announces the poll schedule, which is likely to happen any time after Mar.10.

The EVMs and VVPATs are stored in the EVM warehouse located in the premises of the new DC Office on Bannur Road in Siddarthanagar. After the arrival of EVMs and VVPATs from Secunderabad last year, the first level checking  was conducted, following which the EVMs, which were found faulty or dysfunctional were sent back to the supplier — Government run Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) at Secunderabad in Telangana. Subsequently, the ECIL dispatched equal number of replacements after making all checks.

Now with elections nearing, the VVPATs and EVMs will undergo randomisation under the guidance of ECI. This will be done in the presence of Nodal officer G.T. Dinesh Kumar, who is the MUDA Commissioner. After randomisation, the EVMs and VVPATs will be dispatched to their designated polling booths in all the eight Assembly segments of Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha Constituency after which the second level of randomisation checks will be conducted at the booths.

The officers and staff of the district administration are trained to conduct checks. This apart, the district administration too has taken measures for sensitising the members of the public on the functioning of the EVMs and VVPATs.