Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said here on Monday that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tamper-proof and a highly qualified technical committee was monitoring their functioning.
Delivering the inaugural address at a seminar at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Mr. Arora said, “There are several technocrats here and let me take this opportunity to let you know that the entire working and functioning of EVMs is under supervision of a highly competent and qualified technical committee. And, members of this committee are not the kind who can be influenced or persuaded by anyone.”
“This [EVM] is a machine which cannot be tampered with. Any machine can malfunction. One purchases a new car and it could malfunction within a few days,” he said.
Mr. Arora reviewed the preparedness of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, and directed the chief election officers to ensure that contact centres with a uniform number, 1950, shall be made operational as a single-point contact for election-related information.
“They were also directed that urgent and time-bound action must be taken to ensure the availability of assured minimum facilities at every polling station for the convenience and facilitation of the voters,” an official statement later said.
The Chief Election Commissioner also emphasised the urgent need to create a comprehensive data base of persons with disability (PwD) voters along with their polling station-wise mapping to ensure that adequate assistance is provided to all PwD voters on day of poll.
“Also the CEC issued directions that parliamentary polls should be made most friendly for voters and all necessary facilitations should be provided specially to gender, persons with disability and senior citizens,” added the statement.
