Bengaluru: 5,000 advanced error-detecting EVMs to be used

For the upcoming Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, a total of 5,000 advanced EVMs and VVPATs which can automatically detect errors and any tampering with the vote will be used in Bengaluru, informed state’s Chief Election Official on Tuesday.

CEO Sanjiv Kumar told reporters,” We are going to use 5,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines with advanced automation and can detect any errors and display on the screen if the vote cast was tampered with or dysfunctional. The new machines, which will be used for the first time in the state, will be deployed in the constituencies of Bengaluru.”

These advanced election machinery to be used in the city for the ensuing elections on a pilot basis will be supplied by Bengaluru-based Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL).

Election officials will be trained on using the new machines, however, for the voters the elements remains the same, added Kumar.

Each EVM consists of a control unit and a balloting unit. As of date, there are 89,206 balloting units and 76,192 control units in the state. These units are enough for the 58,546 polling stations across 224 assembly segments in the state, clarified Kumar.

to make up for the shortfall of some outdated machines which were discarded, some of the units have been sourced from other states, including Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. A few of the machines are stuck in court cases over alleged rigging of votes in the past.

The southern state has 4.96 crore electors, including 2.52 crore men and 2.44 crore women and about 4,500 people who identify themselves as the third gender. A special drive held on April 8 to register any voters left out in the state received 6.45 lakh applications, which were scrutinized by the election officials and will be added to the electoral list if eligible to vote.