EVMs used in Maharashtra polls are tamper-proof, ECI confirms

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday said that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used for the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls are “tamper-proof”, following a detailed checking and verification exercise found no irregularities.

The verification was ordered after 10 candidates, who contested the November 2024 elections, sought the ECI to check the used EVMs – ballot units, control units and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). The Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEC) carried out the exercise following the ECI’s June 17 directives. The directives also come after Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidates alleged discrepancies in the EVMs and mismatched numbers in VVPAT slips.

“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 voting machines are tamper-proof,” ECI said in a statement, highlighting that the verification process was conducted in the presence of eight applicants, who sought verification of the voting machines.

The test was conducted on 48 ballot units, 31 control units and 31 VVPATs, including diagnostic tests for verifying burnt memory/microcontroller in the constituencies of Kopri-Pachpakhadi and Thane in Thane district, Khadakwasla in Pune district, Majalgaon in Beed district, Arni in Yavatmal, Yevla in Nashik, Chandgad and Kolhapur North in Kolhapur, and Panvel and Alibaug in Raigad.

“The authorised engineers from the manufacturer (ECIL) certified that all machines passed the diagnostic tests. Thereafter, a mock poll was conducted on the machines at the candidates’ request. The results of the EVM were verified with the VVPAT slips count, and no mismatch was found,” the ECI said.