It’s 6-month safe custody for EVMs

Data not to be disturbed lest there are appeals against verdicts. While the EVMs have their own compact boxes, other material like the polling officers’ diary and documents pertaining to 17C will also be storied in trunk boxes.

With the imminent formation of governments in Telangana and A.P., the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been secured, locked and stocked in the main storage depot of the GHMC in Chudibazar, in the last few days.

Official sources, declining to be identified, stated that little over 3,200 brand new EVMs sourced from Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) have been used for polling for the 15 Assembly and two Lok Sabha constituencies in the capital region.

These EVMs will be put in the storage and will be guarded round the clock for the next six months without disturbing the content lest there are any court cases questioning the various verdicts. “Each of the EVMs ‘CRC’ (count, result & cover) buttons will be sealed to prevent any tampering of the votes polled or the result. They are under the District Election Officer’s (DEO) custody,” they said.

While the EVMs have their own compact boxes, other material like the polling officers’ diary and documents pertaining to 17C will also be storied in trunk boxes.

“Every bit of information pertaining to the functioning of each of the EVMs from the time they had arrived, to the polling process experience, whether there was any snag, any replacements done, any repoll done and so on will be recorded and kept for safe keeping till the six months period,” explained senior officials.

Information pertaining to the number of voters polling booth wise, number of votes polled, number of male and female voters as well as the NOTA votes (‘none of the above’ option) will be recorded, they said.

After the six month period, the machines will be handed over to the ECIL to be emptied and used for other elections, senior officials added.