Kolathur EVM verification: No malpractice found, clarifies District Election Officer

The verification of electronic voting machines (EVMs), control units, and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines used in 14 polling stations in the Kolathur Assembly constituency continued for the fourth day on Saturday. The exercise commenced on July 29 following directions from the Election Commission (EC) and covered machines from two polling stations on Saturday.

The verification is being conducted at the electronic voting machine storage facility in Chintadripet in the presence of Chennai District Election Officer and Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G.S. Sameeran. Addressing reporters after the fourth day of the process, Mr. Sameeran said the exercise has so far found no evidence of malpractice and should not be construed as a recounting exercise.

“This is not re-counting. This is EVM Checking and Verification process,” he said. “It is a 100% transparent exercise to establish the reliability of the EVMs.” He added that in the eight EVMs verified over the past two days, the polled votes recorded candidate-wise matched the results in Form 20. The preliminary mock poll had also been completed successfully.

During a detailed mock poll of one EVM from Polling Station 75 at Chennai Higher Secondary School in Kolathur, the VVPAT developed a technical fault after correctly recording 412 mock votes, with its indicator light failing to function. Mr. Sameeran said the EC’s protocol permitted either replacing only the VVPAT and continuing the mock poll until the required 500 votes, or replacing the entire EVM set and restarting the exercise. However, the applicant’s representatives declined both options, following which the process was halted.

He also said officials offered a randomly selected list of 10 EVM sets, from which the applicant could choose two for verification. “They were given one hour to select two EVMs. If they do not, we will randomly select two EVMs in the presence of other agents, videograph the entire process and complete the verification,” he said.

Responding to allegations regarding missing or incomplete seal markings on certain machines, Mr. Sameeran said all machines have been properly sealed and the seal identification is available. “Their allegation is only that the seal is at the rear and not on the front. That can easily be verified by opening the machine and tallying it. In the subsequent stages, there are opportunities to verify and check the authenticity. They call it a technical issue. But that is not evidence of any malpractice or tampering with the EVM. We have explained all this to them in detail through a letter. Based on that, we have given them time,” he added.

He said if the applicant does not make a selection within the given time, officials will select two EVMs themselves in accordance with EC instructions. The same procedure was followed in Kancheepuram. If the applicant or chief agent chooses not to participate, the EC guidelines authorise the District Election Officer to proceed with verification through random selection, under videography and in the presence of officials, before submitting the report to the EC.

Additional District Election Officer and Joint Commissioner (Education) K. Karpagam, District Revenue Officer (Elections) N. Pushnadevi, and other election officials were present during the exercise.