PUNE: All electronic voting machines (EVM) and voter verified paper audit trails (VVPAT) used in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections will be kept, along with the poll data, in the respective strong rooms at 38 locations in the state for the next 45 days.
Election Commission of India (EC) officials said here on Monday that the data would be preserved for now, in case they were needed for any court case.
“As the model code of conduct rules have been lifted now, the data will be cleared if there’s no petition. The machines have to be made ready for the coming Assembly elections in the state,” an EC official said.
At present, 98,000 EVMs and nearly 1 lakh VVPAT machines are with the state. The government will require the same number of EVMs and VVPATs for the Maharashtra Assembly elections likely to be held sometime in October. “The machines will be kept in the strong rooms after the Lok Sabha poll data are cleared. In case of any court case, the particular EVMs will not be touched,” a senior election official said.
The model code of conduct, which came into force on March 10 when the Lok Sabha election was announced, ceased to be in existence, the Election Commission said on Sunday. In an instruction to the cabinet secretary and chief secretaries of state governments, the commission said the model code had been lifted with immediate effect.
A senior EC official said following the announcement of the poll results, the candidates were given 45 days to apply for re-recounting.
“The window period of 45 days is provided so that if any candidate has any doubts about the results, she or he can apply for re-counting. There have been many instances of very less margin of votes, like a few hundreds or thousands, between the winner and the second runner-up. We also have instances of candidates winning by a margin of single vote,” the official said.
“In such cases, recounting is often proposed. But once the 45-day window period is over, there cannot be any recounting. All political parties and candidates are aware of this. Till then, the poll data are kept in the EVMs and VVPATs and the machines are guarded and transferred to the store rooms by forces from the Centre and the state,” the official added.
The EC has stated that the EVMs were “absolutely safe”. The commission has also said no discrepancy has been found while tallying of the VVPATs with the EVMs and all the chief electoral officers from the 542 parliamentary constituencies have given a clean chit for the poll results.
The EVMs are currently stored in the respective strong rooms, which have double seal. The sealing process takes place in front of polling officers, candidates and their representatives and CCTV cameras are in operation at the strong rooms round the clock.
Election Commission of India (EC) officials said here on Monday that the data would be preserved for now, in case they were needed for any court case.
“As the model code of conduct rules have been lifted now, the data will be cleared if there’s no petition. The machines have to be made ready for the coming Assembly elections in the state,” an EC official said.
At present, 98,000 EVMs and nearly 1 lakh VVPAT machines are with the state. The government will require the same number of EVMs and VVPATs for the Maharashtra Assembly elections likely to be held sometime in October. “The machines will be kept in the strong rooms after the Lok Sabha poll data are cleared. In case of any court case, the particular EVMs will not be touched,” a senior election official said.
The model code of conduct, which came into force on March 10 when the Lok Sabha election was announced, ceased to be in existence, the Election Commission said on Sunday. In an instruction to the cabinet secretary and chief secretaries of state governments, the commission said the model code had been lifted with immediate effect.
A senior EC official said following the announcement of the poll results, the candidates were given 45 days to apply for re-recounting.
“The window period of 45 days is provided so that if any candidate has any doubts about the results, she or he can apply for re-counting. There have been many instances of very less margin of votes, like a few hundreds or thousands, between the winner and the second runner-up. We also have instances of candidates winning by a margin of single vote,” the official said.
“In such cases, recounting is often proposed. But once the 45-day window period is over, there cannot be any recounting. All political parties and candidates are aware of this. Till then, the poll data are kept in the EVMs and VVPATs and the machines are guarded and transferred to the store rooms by forces from the Centre and the state,” the official added.
The EC has stated that the EVMs were “absolutely safe”. The commission has also said no discrepancy has been found while tallying of the VVPATs with the EVMs and all the chief electoral officers from the 542 parliamentary constituencies have given a clean chit for the poll results.
The EVMs are currently stored in the respective strong rooms, which have double seal. The sealing process takes place in front of polling officers, candidates and their representatives and CCTV cameras are in operation at the strong rooms round the clock.
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