GANGTOK, 12 Feb: The State Election Department here in Gangtok today began the exercise of checking the Electronic Voting Machines. This is the first level checking of the EVMs being conducted by the Election Department and has been undertaken under directions of the Election Commission of India.
The checking of EVMs is being done in the Strong Room of the department situated at Vajra, Gangtok and will continue till 15 February.
As per an order issued by the department the offices of the election department will be out of bounds for the general public during the period of the EVM checking due to security reasons.
For attestation of photo electoral identity cards and other works the Election Department has requested the general public to approach the concerned district election officers at the District Administration Centres.
As informed by the CEO, D Anandan, a total of 1200 EVMs are undergoing the preliminary checking for which engineers from Electric Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) have come.
A total of 5 engineers from ECIL, which is the government designated company for manufacture EVMs in India, are here to conduct the checking.
Incidentally, the first level checking of machines was also done in September 2013 when, as per the CEO, a total of 2000 EVMs were checked under the same directives of the ECI. The checking of the machines involves cleaning and checking its buttons and other accessories.
The CEO reiterated that this checking is a regular feature at the time of elections and done on the directions of the Election Commission of India.
At the time of checking only recognized political parties, as per the directives of the ECI, are asked to send in their representatives to witness the checking exercise.
As informed by the CEO all recognized political parties have been intimated about the checking and asked to send representatives. Here again, the CEO, D Anandan made it clear that this is only the preliminary exercise and that there will be another checking of those EVMs which will be finally selected for use in the upcoming elections.
This subsequent checking will be done in front of the candidates by the respective Returning Officers.
It is informed that not all 3200 EVMs will be required for the elections in Sikkim and it is understood that the ECI may request the Election Department here to dispatch any number of EVMs as it requires to be used for polling in other states as well.
Therefore, the final selection of those machines to be actually used for the elections in Sikkim will be done later and these will undergo another round of checking which will be done in the presence of all candidates of all political parties contesting the elections.
The checking of EVMs is being done in the Strong Room of the department situated at Vajra, Gangtok and will continue till 15 February.
As per an order issued by the department the offices of the election department will be out of bounds for the general public during the period of the EVM checking due to security reasons.
For attestation of photo electoral identity cards and other works the Election Department has requested the general public to approach the concerned district election officers at the District Administration Centres.
As informed by the CEO, D Anandan, a total of 1200 EVMs are undergoing the preliminary checking for which engineers from Electric Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) have come.
A total of 5 engineers from ECIL, which is the government designated company for manufacture EVMs in India, are here to conduct the checking.
Incidentally, the first level checking of machines was also done in September 2013 when, as per the CEO, a total of 2000 EVMs were checked under the same directives of the ECI. The checking of the machines involves cleaning and checking its buttons and other accessories.
The CEO reiterated that this checking is a regular feature at the time of elections and done on the directions of the Election Commission of India.
At the time of checking only recognized political parties, as per the directives of the ECI, are asked to send in their representatives to witness the checking exercise.
As informed by the CEO all recognized political parties have been intimated about the checking and asked to send representatives. Here again, the CEO, D Anandan made it clear that this is only the preliminary exercise and that there will be another checking of those EVMs which will be finally selected for use in the upcoming elections.
This subsequent checking will be done in front of the candidates by the respective Returning Officers.
It is informed that not all 3200 EVMs will be required for the elections in Sikkim and it is understood that the ECI may request the Election Department here to dispatch any number of EVMs as it requires to be used for polling in other states as well.
Therefore, the final selection of those machines to be actually used for the elections in Sikkim will be done later and these will undergo another round of checking which will be done in the presence of all candidates of all political parties contesting the elections.
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