Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar has dismissed reports in the social media and a section of print media on the alleged tampering of the electronic voting machines in some parts of the State and said cases are being registered against the “misleading” social media postings that are giving rise to speculation over the manner in which the polls are conducted.
“There are checks and balances incorporated in the system. There is a legal recourse that can be adopted if the lines are crossed,” the CEO warned those posting messages casting aspersions on the polling process.
Mr. Rajat Kumar was obviously upset with the social media posting that showed an EVM located in the house of a ruling party member in Nizamabad.
Old video
The video posted on the social media pertained to an incident that took place in Rajasthan last year, but it was being portrayed as a development related to the first phase of Lok Sabha election.
The same was the case with the videos showing transport of EVM machines by auto-rickshaw in Jagtial Assembly segment under the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat. The videos showed transportation of the M2 model machines that were not used at all in Nizamabad where 185 candidates were in the fray. The election authority had likewise registered a case against a member of the party in power who circulated the photo of EVMs in strong room.
EVMs categorised
The EVMs used in the election process are sorted into four categories, of which the first two A and B categories are of utmost importance as they are the machines on which the votes were actually cast and the details of those that were replaced after being found faulty.
“The C category of machines are those that are found faulty during the initial checks while the D category are the EVMs that are kept in the reserve,” he explained.
The election authority ensures checks at three to four levels and these are duly recorded, he said. The EVMs would be sent to strong rooms after the contesting candidates, observers and polling agents tallied the registers relating to Form 17A (containing list of voters with their signatures/thumb impressions) and 17C (about the details of votes cast on the respective EVMs).
Video recording
The entire process is video-recorded so that it could stand as evidence in case of any one challenging it. “With this kind of checks and balances, I don’t think it is right to cast aspersions on the process,” he said.
On the differences in the poll percentage announced on the election day and the final tally especially in Hyderabad and Secunderabad constituencies, he said the election authority would communicate the general estimate on the polling day as it had to be forwarded to the Election Commission. But there would be areas where polling would continue beyond specific time and compilation of the figures could result in some margin of difference.