Polls over, EVMs shifted to Wadi for safekeeping

Nagpur: While the political arena continues to discuss its reliability, electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in the recently concluded state assembly elections have been securely sealed in a strong room at Wadi after the counting in the presence of the collector and district election officer Dr Vipin Itankar.Following tradition, the district administration has adhered to the standard procedure outlined by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure the security of the EVMs. The machines, procured from counting centres from all the 12 constituencies in Nagpur district, are now stored at Wadi, which was also previously used for holding EVM pre-poll check before the state elections.A senior official from the district administration informed that the strong room has been divided into 24 chambers, with two chambers allocated to each constituency. "To ensure foolproof security, the facility is equipped with 24-hour CCTV surveillance and a dedicated police team stationed on-site," he stated. He added that the machines will remain under tight security for the next 45 days, the time frame during which candidates can file petitions for vote recounting. As per ECI rules, second and third-place candidates may request re-verification of the EVM results by paying Rs47,200 per set. If no such requests are made within this period, the machines will be shifted to a secure storage facility in Hingna, where they will remain until the next elections. Unlike LS polls, there were 12 LACs, resulting in 12 different strong rooms and counting centres for each of the constituencies. Nagpur district houses two LS constituencies, which are further segregated into 12 assembly constituencies.