1st-level checking of EVMs, VVPATs begins

A first-level checking of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) commenced here on Friday. The inspection was held during a meeting of district Collectors chaired by State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar during which two officials from Election Commission of India (ECI) imparted training on the use of EVMs and VVPATs to the Collectors.

Sources said the ‘First-Level Checking’ would continue for two months.

Notably, the VVPAT was for the first time used during the Bijepur by-election and will be used in all the 36,600 booths in the State during the upcoming general elections.

A voters’ list rectification process is scheduled to begin on Saturday (September 1).

Earlier on Thursday, the CEO had held a meeting with the representatives of different political parties in connection with electoral roll revision ahead of the polls.

Later, Kumar said the voters can apply for rectification in the voter list and the process would continue in next two months till October 31. The final voter list would be published on January 4, 2019, he said after the all-party meeting.