Nellore: EVM verification begins on Election Commission's orders

Nellore: Following instructions from the Election Commission, authorities in Prakasam district started verification of the electronic voting machines manufactured before 2006 in the presence of representatives from different political parties at a godown in Thorvagunta near Ongole on Tuesday. According to district collector V. Vinay Cha-nd, the EC has directed them to verify pre-2006 EVMs manufactured mostly between 2003 and 2004 (which are known as M-I EVMs) using a mobile app developed by the Commission.

The unique barcodes on the machines are being scanned with the help of the app meant for Android mobiles after downloading the same from EC website. All the details of the EVM such as year of manufacturing and serial number are reflected on the screen of the mobile and details are transferred to the database of EC. As many as 65 EVMs stored in the godown have been verified using the application.

The whole process was photographed and videdographed as per instructions of EC, Mr Vinay Chand said. He said that earlier they used to manually verify the EVMs and submit the details written on a paper to EC. The process has now became simple with the use of new technology. To a question he said the technical checking will be carried out only by the Electronic Corporation of India on specific directions of Election Commission.