PANAJI
With more than 3,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) remaining sealed in connection with an ongoing court case, the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) has procured a fresh consignment of EVMs and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure adequate availability for the 2027 Goa Assembly elections.
The latest shipment, which arrived last week, comprises 1,095 Ballot Units (BUs), 1,100 Control Units (CUs) and 200 VVPATs, all manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The machines have been allotted by the ECI and, along with the existing stock available with the North Goa district election machinery, will be deployed during the Assembly elections scheduled for February 2027.
Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Goel said the fresh allotment was necessitated as the earlier set of EVMs continues to remain under judicial custody.
"The existing EVMs continue to remain sealed with the court. We have got a fresh consignment of EVMs from Bharat Electronics Limited. Also, there were some EVMs available with North District, as they were not under scrutiny," Goel told The Goan.
Goel said Goa has 1,737 polling stations, requiring a corresponding number of EVMs, besides additional machines kept in reserve and earmarked for training purposes. "We have 1,737 polling booths. We also keep around 20 per cent reserve EVMs and another set for training. With all these put together, we have sufficient EVMs in place. All these will be used for the 2027 polls," he said. Over 3,000 EVMs and VVPATs have remained unavailable for use after they were sealed following a petition filed by a defeated candidate from the South Goa Lok Sabha constituency. The petitioner had alleged violations of Election Commission guidelines during the commissioning process of the EVMs used in the parliamentary election. Pending adjudication of the matter, the machines have not been released for reuse. Meanwhile, the Election Department will commence the First Level Checking (FLC) of the newly available EVMs and VVPATs from August 17 in both North and South Goa. Describing the exercise as a critical step in election preparedness, Goel said, "The FLC is an important preparatory exercise aimed at ensuring the proper functioning and readiness of the EVMs and VVPATs for their use”.
