NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has received a total of 11 applications from candidates defeated in the recent Lok Sabha and assembly polls, seeking checking or verification of burnt memory/microcontroller of electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in eight parliamentary constituencies (PCs) of six states and three assembly constituencies (ACs) across Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
While four applications – made in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directions dated April 26, 2024, allowing candidates who finish second and third to seek verification of microchips embedded in upto 5% of EVMs per AC on written request and payment of fee – were filed by losing candidates of the BJP, two came from Congress candidates, three from YSR Congress Party candidates and one each from BJD and DMDK candidate.
Eight verification requests relate to EVMs deployed in 92 polling stations across eight Lok Sabha constituencies – Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh, Kanker in Chhattisgarh, Karnal and Faridabad in Haryana, Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, Vellore and Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu and Zahirabad in Telangana. The other three requests seek checking of EVM chips across 26 select polling stations of Gajapathinagaram AC and Ongole AC in Andhra Pradesh and Jharsuguda AC in Odisha. The PCs with the most polling stations selected for EVM check are Ahmednagar PC (40); Virudhunagar PC and Zahirabad PC (20 each); Jharsuguda AC (13) and Ongole AC (12).
Interestingly the verification was sought not only for the closely contested seats with thin victory margins but also where margins exceeded 2 lakh votes. For instance, the margin was 2.49 lakh in Vizianagaram PC, 2.32 lakh in Karnal PC from where Union minister Manohar Lal was elected; 1.73 lakh in Faridabad PC; and 2.16 lakh in Vellore PC. In Kanker PC, the narrow margin of 1,884 votes seems to have prompted defeated Congress candidate Biresh Thakur to seek EVM chip verification; as in Jharsuguda AC where the BJD candidate Dipali Das lost to BJP rival by 1,333 votes; and Virudhunagar PC where the Congress opponent defeated DMDK candidate by 4,379 votes. Other places with low-to-moderate margins where verification will be done are Zahirabad PC (46,188), Ahmednagar PC (28,929), Gajapathinagaram AC (25,301) and Ongole AC (34,026).
As per the protocol issued by EC on June 1, the concerned chief electoral officers (CAAs) have conveyed the list of applicants, under intimation to the EC, to the manufacturers, 15 days before the 30-day deadline.
Checking and verification process can begin within four weeks of CEO’s verification of status of election petitions filed in the respective constituencies. Election petition filing deadline being July 19, 2024, the technical SOP enumerating the methodology and steps for verification of EVM microcontrollers will be issued by EC in the four weeks after that.
EC on Thursday said the manufacturers will issue schedule EVM checking within two weeks of receipt of election petition (EP) status from CEOs, and the same will start within four weeks of confirmation of EP status.