Jaipur: State chief electoral officer Ashwini Bhagat on Tuesday said that those EVMs found defective during the first-level checking were sent back to the Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) for rectification. Besides, those machines found in order were packed pink paper and sealed in the presence of representatives of the political parties, officials and the engineers.Bhagat said, these seals would be opened only before the elections and if any of the seals were found tampered, such machines would not be used in the elections. Referring to the defects in some machines reported in some districts, CEO said that minor defects in some machines are not unusual and the defect percentage of about 1% is the national average.He said, such machines were returned to the BEL and they rectify the mistakes.He said, so far 76,700 M-3 ballot unit, about 64,000 control units and nearly 65,700 VVPAT has been allotted to the state and these machines were being shifted to the warehouses after conducting the first-level checking. About 2 lakh EVMs will be used in the assembly elections scheduled by the end of this year.He said, these EVMs were kept under tight security and a team of 10 security personnel providing round the clock security to the warehouses where these machines were kept.He said the first level checking of the machines have commenced from June 18. He said 140 engineers of the BEL divided in to 12 teams were carrying out the checking in the presence of officials and representatives of the political parties remove any apprehensions.

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