Less than 2% EVMs had to be replaced, say poll officials

PUNE: State election officials have said in their report that in the three phases of polling already completed in the state, less than 2% electronic voting machine (EVM) had to be replaced due to technical glitches. In the case of the voter-verifiable paper audit

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(VVPAT) machines, the figure was below 5%.


With one more phase of polling — on April 29, covering 17 parliamentary constituencies — to go in Maharashtra, the state election officials are confident that they have an adequate number of reserve machines to tackle unforeseen technical problems on the election day.

“We had procured more than 1 lakh machines for the polls. There will not be any issues with replacements as we have 20% reserve machines,” the officials said.

Senior election officials told TOI that there have been no major complaints. Whenever a technical glitch was detected, the polling was stopped temporarily and the faulty EVM or VVPAT unit was replaced within 15-20 minutes, they said.

“In the first phase, 115 ballot units (BUs), 84 control units (CUs) and 235 VVPAT machines were replaced in the state. In the second phase, 185 BUs, 121 CUs and 304 VVPATs were replaced and during the third phase, 463 BUs, 295 CUs and 1,218 VVPATs were replaced for technical reasons,” said the official report.

V Ramani, a former bureaucrat, said machine glitches have been reported from across the country, but the percentage has been low this time.

Dilemma over filing FIR
In a peculiar case in Pune, a voter claimed a mismatch between the ballot he cast on the EVM and the name reflected on the voter slip. He was then asked to fill the 49(MA) form, and a trial ballot was cast. However, no error was found. The Pune Collector is yet to decide on if an FIR should be filed against this voter as per the provisions. Activist Vijay Kumbhar said very few people may raise issues pertaining to the EVM-VVPAT mismatches fearing the FIRs against them.