Summary:
Currently, the state has 1.50 lakh EVMs, which would be replaced. We can accommodate 1,400 persons per polling booth. VVPATs were first used in 14 constituencies during the 2014 Assembly elections, and later, in the Lok Sabha bypolls in May this year.The EVMs display the names and symbols of contesting candidates, while the VVPAT machines verify that the vote polled goes to the correct candidate.As per election officials, the earlier EVMs (known as M-1) were procured between 2002 and 2006 but these were not compatible with VVPATs. PUNE: The state electoral officials have sought around 1.2 lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) owing to an estimated increase of 25 lakh voters in Maharashtra The state currently has 95,000 polling booths but with an increase in the number of voters, officials estimate that the number of polling stations will go up to 1 lakh for which 1.20 lakh EVMs may be required.The office of the chief electoral officer of Maharashtra will start training its officers to use the new machines, and begin an awareness drive for voters from next week, stated officials.“We will require more EVMs depending on the number of increased voters, and according to the number of booths. As the number of voters is expected to rise by 25 lakh, we expect the number of booths to go up to 1 lakh,’’ stated a senior election commission official.The state officials from the chief electoral office told TOI that they have about 1 lakh EVMs and depending on the final voter count and the number of machines required for training, they would seek more machines from the election commission.Earlier the state had about 1.5 lakh old EVMs, which were later replaced with new M-3 EVMs to make them compatible with the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.ECI officials said that they decided to replace all the old machines after controversy over malfunctioning EVMs during the Lok Sabha bypolls in Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya in May this year.The new M-3 machines were procured from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) as they were found to be compatible with the VVPAT system, which the poll panel has introduced for the elections..