Ahead of several assembly polls this year and Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the Union Cabinet is learnt to have approved a law ministry proposal for funds to procure additional electronic voting machines for the Election Commission.
Sources aware of the development said more of the same type of electronic voting machines (EVMs), which are in use at present, will be procured from Bharat Electronics Ltd and Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, the two PSUs which had been manufacturing the machines since they were introduced.
They said with the increase in the number of voters and polling stations, more machines will be required.
EVMs which complete their life span and those which are damaged also need to be replaced, they said.
Over Rs 1,300 crore will be provided to buy the additional machines, they noted.
One control unit and at least one ballot unit makes for one EVM.
Since 2004, EVMs have been used in four Lok Sabha and 139 assembly elections.
Since 2019, VVPAT (paper trail machine) slips from five randomly selected polling stations per assembly constituency (or segment in cases of Lok Sabha seats) are matched with the EVM count for greater transparency.
No mismatch was found in the counting of paper trail machine slips and votes polled in EVMs in the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, and the seven bypolls held late last year.
The Legislative Department in the Ministry of Law is the nodal agency to deal with issues related to the poll panel, including EVM, election laws and related rules.
