ARO reviews preparedness on EVMs, VVPATs in Mohali

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Mohali, May 24

The commissioning (preparedness for poll day) of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter verified paper audit trails (VVPAT) machines for their usage on polling day (June 1) has been completed this evening, said Mohali Assistant Returning Officer, Deepankar Garg.

Reviewing the preparation of EVMs and VVPATs at the Sports Complex, Garg said the commissioning was started in the presence of representatives of political parties. He said 502 ballot units (for 28 candidates plus 1 NOTA), 251 control units and 251 voter-verifiable paper audit trails were prepared for final installation on poll day at 251 polling booths of the assembly segment SAS Nagar (Mohali).

Garg said the work was done in a transparent manner, with representatives of various political parties in attendance. He said 5 per cent of the 13 EVMs and VVPATs were also tested through a mock poll of 1,000 votes. He said, apart from that, 20 per cent of BUs, CUs and VVPATs have been kept in reserve in case there is a technical snag on polling day. ARO Garg said the ballot units have been fixed with ballot paper with the names, snaps and symbols of those contesting the General Election in Anandpur Sahib Constituency.

He said each of these machines would be installed at 251 polling booths on polling day. He added that the primary motive of the inspection was to ensure polling for General Election in a free, fair and transparent manner.

He also held detailed interactions with the engineers of Bharat Electric Limited (BEL), who have been assigned the duty of preparing these machines. Garg said 25 supervisors, along with 2 BEL engineers, have done the job successfully.