Guwahati, Mar 30 (PTI) The commissioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for next month’s Assam Assembly elections will commence from Tuesday across all 126 constituencies.
The commissioning process will be carried out at the premises notified by the respective District Election Officers (DEOs) with the support of authorised engineers and technical staff from Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL), according to an official statement.
“The entire process will be conducted in the presence of contesting candidates and/or their authorised representatives, ensuring full transparency and adherence to the guidelines of the Election Commission of India,” the statement said.
A total of 41,353 Ballot Units (BUs), 45,572 Control Units (CUs) and 44,830 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units will undergo commissioning.
This includes reserve EVMs comprising 9,863 BUs, 14,082 CUs, and 13,340 VVPATs.
There will be 31,490 polling stations across the state for 2.51 crore electors to cast their votes.
“As part of the process, symbol loading in each VVPAT will be carried out using the Symbol Loading Unit (SLU). The symbols loaded into the VVPATs will be simultaneously displayed on monitor/TV screens for verification by the contesting candidates and their representatives,” the statement from the Chief Electoral Officer said.
To enhance transparency and build confidence in the electoral process, candidates or their representatives will be allowed to randomly select up to five per cent of the EVMs and VVPATs for conducting mock polls, it added.
“The commissioning of EVMs is a crucial step in the election preparedness process and is being undertaken with utmost care to ensure accuracy, transparency and integrity of the electoral process,” the CEO Office said.
Polling for the 126-member Assam Assembly will be held on April 9, while the results will be declared on May 4. This will be the first assembly election after the delimitation exercise, which was done in 2023. PTI TR NN
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