The Election Commission of India (ECI) has started “first-level checks” (FLCs) of all Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and paper trail machines across the country, media reports said on Friday, citing sources.
The FLCs are being conducted ahead of five state assembly elections scheduled to be held before the end of this year andthe 2024 Parliamentary polls.
While carrying out the FLCs, the poll body checks mechanical flaws in EVMs and paper trail machines.
The flaws are being checked by engineers from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL). These two PSUs manufacture the EVMs and paper trail machines.
Faulty machines are returned to the manufacturers for repair or replacement.
Apart from this, the ECI also conducts a mock poll in the presence of the representatives of the political parties to check the functioning of the machines.
Talking to the media, an ECI official said: “It is a pan-India exercise. FLC will take place across the country in a phased manner, including all constituencies of Kerala.” He added that mock polls are also part of the first-level check.
“The Election Commission issues a calendar for such exercises and there are standing instructions that are to be followed by state chief electoral officers,” the official stated.
He further added that machines will be checked in Rajasthan, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh, where elections are scheduled to be held before the end of this year, as well as in the assembly and parliamentary seats where by polls are due.
The parliamentary seats where bypolls are scheduled to be held include Waynad, which fell vacant after the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, Pune and Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh) and Ambala (Haryana).