EVMs stored in strong room, faulty ones will be sent for repairs: CEO
PANAJI
Not the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) but rather the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were a major challenge during the voting held on Tuesday. A total of 49 EVMs and VVPAT machines were replaced as 33 were found to be defective of which VVPATs constituted the highest at 25.
Chief Electoral Officer Ramesh Verma revealed that the highest number of faults occurred in the VVPATs this time.
According to the data provided, 25 VVPATs experienced technical glitches while only eight EVMs were found to be faulty, hence replaced. Of these, the majority of 15 VVPAT issues were in South Goa and 10 in the North.
Another official, speaking to The Goan, explained that after the counting process, all these malfunctioning machines will undergo necessary repairs. “The faulty and the replaced EVMs and VVPATs are currently in the strong room with all records intact. The faulty ones will be sent for repairs through the election commission thereafter,” the official quickly added.
Several polling stations faced voting disruptions due to technical issues with these machines. The official clarified that replacing defective EVMs/ VVPATs is a time-consuming process to maintain transparency including official communication to the sector officers, completing paperwork for replacement, fitment, etc and finally conducting a mock poll on the replaced EVM to avoid allegations of tampering.
“If there’s no mock polling, there will be re-polling. Hence, voters had to wait for some time since all these procedures had to be followed and are unavoidable,” the official said explaining the delay in resuming voting at the affected polling booths.
According to the protocol, if the Ballot Unit and Control Unit, excluding the battery, encounter issues, the entire set of voting machines is replaced. However, if the VVPAT encounters a problem, only that specific machine is replaced.
While these figures are of the voting day, during the trial to the officials faced a similar problem when 53 EVMs and VVPATs were replaced during the mock poll earlier.
Meanwhile, Goa has been leading with 76.06 per cent voter turnout in the parliamentary elections held so far, setting a new national record. The voting turnout in the North was higher at 77.69 per cent while 74.47 per cent voting was recorded in the South. The overall voting percentage is also marginally higher than the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Election code nets illicit goods worth Rs 17.82 cr
PANAJI: Amidst the electoral fervour, authorities grappled with a surge in illicit activities, seizing consignments, cash, and freebies amounting to Rs 17.82 crore since March 16 when the election code of conduct came into force. These seizures and the amount is also the highest in Goa’s recent history.
“It is 40 per cent higher than the 2022 general assembly elections and 55 per cent higher than the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” Verma said.
