The Election Commission of India (ECI) has completed the first phase of randomisation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units for the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The process follows the poll schedule announced by the Commission on March 15 for Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, along with bye-elections in six states.
According to the ECI, the allocation of EVMs is carried out through a two-stage randomisation process to ensure transparency and fairness. In the first stage, machines are randomly assigned from district-level warehouses to Assembly constituencies. In the second stage, they are further randomised and allocated to individual polling stations.
The Commission had directed District Election Officers (DEOs) across poll-bound states and Union Territories to complete the first round of randomisation for EVM-VVPAT units that have successfully undergone First Level Checking (FLC).
Following these directions, the exercise has been completed in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry, as well as for bye-elections scheduled in Goa, Karnataka, Nagaland and Tripura, all of which will go to polls on April 9.
The randomisation process was conducted using the EVM Management System (EMS) in the presence of representatives of recognised national and state political parties, reinforcing procedural transparency.
The ECI said that constituency-wise lists of the randomised EVMs and VVPATs have been shared with political party representatives at district headquarters. The machines will now be stored in designated Assembly strong rooms under the supervision of officials and party representatives.
The Commission added that once the list of contesting candidates is finalised, details of both the first and second randomisation of EVMs and VVPATs will also be shared with all candidates.
