A. Venkatesan, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam candidate for Sholavandan assembly constituency, petitioned Collector here on Saturday emphasising the need to ensure complete protection at the strong rooms where the Electronic Voting Machines and VVPATs are currently stored.
In his petition, Mr. Venkatesan pointed out that the EVMs and VVPATs of Sholavandan assembly constituency are stored ont Anna University Regional Campus at Keelakuyilkudi. A three-tier security arrangement has been in place at all the counting centres.
Despite having security arrangements, Anna University staff are allowed to take online classes within the campus without the knowledge of representatives of political parties, claimed Mr. Venkatesan.
This will undermine the security at the counting centre, said Mr. Venkatesan. “Since the university campus is one of the counting centres of the district, it comes under the purview of the Election Commission of India. Hence, no outsider or university staff should be allowed to enter the campus before the declaration of election results. Also, there is no clear understanding as to when these university staff are taking classes inside the campus,” he added.
