Kolkata
A review of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) in West Bengal has revealed malfunctioning batteries in the control units. The inspection was conducted by a team from the Election Commission of India (ECI) during a two-day visit to assess preparedness for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in the state. Each EVM consists of three components: the control unit, ballot unit, and voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT). The control unit is used by the presiding officer to activate the ballot unit, allowing voters to cast their ballots by pressing a button. After voting is completed, the VVPAT section provides a paper trail to authenticate the vote. During random checks of the EVMs, it was discovered that the batteries in the control units of several machines were malfunctioning. Properly functioning batteries are essential for initiating the voting process in a machine. To address this issue, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in West Bengal has requisitioned 20,000 new EVMs from Hyderabad, which are expected to arrive in Kolkata this month. Sources from the CEO’s office stated that the ECI delegation, led by senior deputy election commissioners Dharmendra Sharma and Nitesh Vyas, emphasized the importance of ensuring an accurate voters’ list by removing the names of deceased voters and canceling duplicate Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC). Additionally, the staff at the CEO’s office was instructed to facilitate the enrollment of new voters without any difficulties.
