EVMs are tamper-proof, ECI says, after checking and verification process

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday (July 31, 2025) stated that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are “tamper-proof” after completion of the ‘Checking and Verification’ (C&V) process for the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election. 

Having received applications for C&V of EVMs — ballot units, control units, and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) — from 10 candidates who contested in the Maharashtra Assembly election in November 2024, the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer, as directed by the ECI on June 17, carried out the C&V exercise. 

“CEC carried out the exercise across 10 Assembly constituencies and found that in all cases the machines passed the diagnostic tests and there has been no mismatch in the count of VVPAT slips. This exercise proves, yet again, that the EVMs are tamper-proof,” stated in the statement released by ECI.

This follows a slew of allegations from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of discrepancies in EVMs, and mismatched numbers in EVM and VVPAT slips in the Maharashtra Assembly election. 

The ECI highlighted that the C&V was conducted in the presence of eight applicants, the losing candidates, and the representatives of the candidates who contested. 

The ECI stressed that the C&V had been successfully conducted on 48 ballot units, 31 control units, and 31 VVPATs of 10 Assembly constituencies. This included diagnostic tests for verifying burnt memory/microcontroller in the Assembly constituencies of Kopri-Pachpakhadi and Thane in Thane district; Khadakwasla in Pune district; Majalgaon in Beed district; Arni in Yavatmal; Yevla in Nashik district; Chandgad and Kolhapur North in Kolhapur district; and Panvel and Alibaug in Raigad district.

“After the diagnostic test, the authorised engineers from the manufacturer (Electronics Corporation of India Limited) certified that all machines passed the diagnostic tests. Thereafter, a mock poll was conducted on the machines as per the request received from the candidates. The results of the EVM (from the Control Unit) were verified with the VVPAT slips count, and no mismatch was found,” the ECI’s statement read.