TOI Apr 5, 2023: Ahead of next year’s simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha elections, Odisha on Tuesday received 8,200 new electronic voting machines (EVMs) from Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) in Hyderabad in the first phase.
Ahead of next year’s simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha elections, Odisha on Tuesday received 8,200 new electronic voting machines (EVMs) from Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) in Hyderabad in the first phase.
Odisha requires about 95,000 EVMs for around 37,100 polling booths in 147 assembly and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies.
The total requirement of EVMs for 2024 elections will be met by direct procurement from the manufacturer and from other states, as per the mandate of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Some of the old EVMs, whose 15- year lifespan has ended, would be replaced by the new ones.
“Since simultaneous elections are mostly likely to be conducted in Odisha, we need double the quantity of EVMs required for a single election. In the first phase, we have received 8,200 EVMs of M3 model (4,100 pairs of ballot unit and control unit). Representatives of different political parties were present when we received the EVMs at the Puri district warehouse. Equal number of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPAT)s will arrive soon,” said an official of the state’s chief electoral office.
Apart from Puri, other districts like Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Balangir, Sonepur, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar will soon receive new EVMs, a source in the election commission said.
While the arrival of the EVMs in Puri triggered speculation about early assembly polls in Odisha, the election commission officials rebuffed the theory. It must be noted that Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan had in December last year hinted at the possibility of an early assembly election (before 2024) in the state.
“The arrival of EVMs has nothing to do with early elections. This is largely the preparations for the 2024 elections,” the official said, adding nearly Rs 1,900 crore was allocated in the Budget to the Union law ministry to purchase new EVMs for different states ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
EVMs reach Puri ahead of General Elections 2024
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