EC to roll out simpler EVM check protocol; major verifications in Maharashtra soon
More than six months after the declaration of Maharashtra Assembly election results - over 100 applications for checking & verification (C&V) of EVM memory across constituencies - largely by the defeated INDIA bloc candidates - will finally be addressed.
ET has gathered that the Election Commission will announce a new, simpler protocol for memory checks of the voting machines within the next two weeks, setting the wheels in motion for the conduct of the C&V, which had been paused for months amid court battles.
As per rulebooks, the EVM C&V process is timed to be completed largely within two months of the declaration of election results, except in cases where an Election Petition (EP) challenging the result may have been filed in court.
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Following Supreme Court directions on April 26, 2024 - two runners-up/losing candidates can seek burnt memory verification in about 5% of EVMs per Assembly constituency for suspected 'tampering or modification' within seven days of counting day.
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The original 2024 ECI protocol for the EVM memory check - issued amid Lok Sabha polls - allowed candidates to choose various combinations of EVM/VVPATs for the memory check in the presence of the candidates along with engineers from the EVM manufacturers (ECIL and BEL).
This SOP, however, was challenged in court over its efficacy.
In a hearing on February 11, 2025, the special Supreme Court bench - with then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta - took another view and observed that the EVM C&V mechanism was not meant to be such a complex one involving the erasure and reloading of polling data, but merely a verification of the EVMs by an engineer of the manufacturing company to dispel doubts on possible tampering.
Awaiting clarity from the court on the path ahead, the poll panel chose to pause all ongoing C&V processes in the interim.
The clarity came with the May 9 hearing of the case, where the bench accepted the EC's proposal - to not delete data from EVMs whose verification is sought by candidates.
The SC said that the idea was simply that engineers of
Bharat Electronics Limited
(BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) 'certify' that they are satisfied that 'the burnt memory/microcontrollers and software have not been tampered with and their integrity is maintained'.
The court has, however, allowed room for a mock poll.
Accordingly, a simpler SOP detailing both aspects is now set to be brought in, ET has gathered.
MAHARASHTRA CALLING
The biggest impact will be in Maharashtra where, in the aftermath of a tightly contested Assembly election in November 2024, a record 104 Checking & Verification (C&V) applications were filed across 95 constituencies seeking verification of 755 EVMs.
The maximum verification applications appear to have been filed by candidates from the Sharad Pawar NCP, as per preliminary assessments.
The Indian National Congress is not far behind, with at least a score of C&V applications filed by its candidates. The largest number of applications have come from constituencies in the districts of Thane, Pune, Ahilyanagar and Mumbai South-Urban.
As many as 137 EVMs are sought to be checked in Pune district, followed by 75 in Thane and 74 in Ahilyanagar, as per ECI data.
Nearly half of these were later caught in EPs filed simultaneously in several of the same constituencies.
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