Tampering of the multi-post electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in the local government polls has turned murky with Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), which supplied the machines, terming the snag unusual.
The State Election Commission (SEC) had sought a report of the corporation about the snag which derailed the election process mainly in Thrissur and Malappuram districts.
The ECIL’s report has described the development as unusual. In the wake of the report, the SEC would enlist the support of experts of the Election Commission of India (ECI) for conducting a detailed probe into the incident.
The EVMs that have been retained in safe custody would be subjected for a thorough scrutiny by the experts. The SEC would constitute a team comprising ECI experts to unravel the mystery behind the series of incidents.
Commission sources told The Hindu here that the future course of the probe would be determined on the basis of the inquiry report of the expert team, but the finding in the preliminary report that the snag was unusual itself has triggered a lot of doubts.
Maiden experiment
The deployment of EVMs in three-tier elections being the maiden experiment of the commission, it had not spared any effort to check and ensure the efficacy of the machines and multi-level tests were conducted before installing them at the booths.
While machines of identical batches used in Kozhikode functioned without any hitch, those installed in the two districts became non-functional after polling about 20 votes.
The preliminary report of the ECIL itself is sufficient to probe the conspiracy angle. For, the sudden trouble which developed in the functioning of the machines is suspected to have been induced by miscreants by applying adhesive under the press button or pushing paper bits or match sticks into the ballot unit.
The expert team probe is likely to cover all aspects, including conspiracy and its motive.
A final decision would be made only on the basis of the expert committee report. The commission is duly empowered to determine the nature of the inquiry and it would settle on the future course of action soon, the sources said.
