Team in Hyderabad to get 1,500 new EVMs, VVPATs; All old machines except those used in Varuna Constituency in Mysuru to be used

Mysore/Mysuru: Preparatory work for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is underway across the nation and the Election Commission has commenced the manufacturing of 8.92 lakh new Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines and is replacing old model machines.

Checking of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and VVPATs is a routine exercise that happens after every election and faulty or obsolete machines are being removed from the system. The Election Commission has identified 3.43 lakh VVPATs for preventive maintenance and 2.43 lakh for upgrade to reduce machine replacement rates.

As part of the preparations, Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer has initiated several measures and, in this background, the Mysuru Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dr. K.V. Rajendra, who is also the District Electoral Officer, has commenced the process.

In the previous Assembly elections, Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Commissioner G.T. Dinesh Kumar, who has a track record of successfully performing the duties of Nodal Officer for EVMs and VVPATs, has been entrusted with the responsibility of EVMs and VVPATs in the Lok Sabha elections too.

A team of officers led by Dinesh Kumar and Police personnel left for Hyderabad yesterday to transport over 1,500 new EVMs and VVPATs from the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL). The team travelled by road to Bengaluru to take a flight to Hyderabad.

At the ECIL, the machines will be loaded into three high-security trucks (500 machines each) and will be brought by road to Mysuru. The machines will reach Mysuru tomorrow (July 23) evening and will be taken to the EVM Warehouse near the office of the DC at Siddarthanagar.

Next week, expert Engineers from the ECIL will carry out the First Level Check (FLC). For the Lok Sabha general elections in Mysuru district, there is an allocation of 5,594 Ballot
Units, 3,901 Control Units and 4,138 VVPATs. During FLCs, EVMs and VVPATs are checked for mechanical flaws by engineers. Technical persons come to Mysuru for FLC and if there are problems in the EVMs, they will be sent to Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) or ECIL for correction.

Petition in High Court

Due to the pending Election Petition (No. 13/2023) in the Karnataka High Court, the Election Commission has directed that except those EVMs and VVPATs that were used in Varuna Constituency in Karnataka, all other EVMs and VVPATs that were used in the State Assembly Election held this year can be used. The petition was filed to set aside the 2023 election of Chief Minister Siddharamaiah from Varuna for allegedly indulging in electoral malpractices.

The petition filed by K.M. Shankara, voter from Varuna, came up for hearing on Friday (July 21) before Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav who asked the petitioner to rectify office objections in the petition and listed the matter for hearing on July 28.

The plea, filed through Senior Advocate Pramila Nesargi, has challenged the election of Siddharamaiah as it violated the Representation of the People Act. Offering of freebies (five guarantees) violated the Act and the Constitution and vitiated the purity of the election process, exerting undue influence on voters, the plea said.