Guwahati, March 21: The Election Commission of India has completed the first phase of randomisation of Electronic Voting Machines and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail units across poll-bound states, including Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry, as well as select states going for by-elections.
The poll body had earlier announced the schedule for Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, along with by-elections in six states.
As part of the mandated electoral protocol, EVMs are allocated through a two-stage randomisation process aimed at eliminating any scope for bias. In the first stage, machines are randomly distributed from district warehouses to Assembly constituencies, followed by a second stage where they are assigned to individual polling stations.
District Election Officers carried out the first phase using machines that had cleared the First Level Checking process, a detailed technical verification. The exercise was completed in Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry for Assembly polls, and in Goa, Karnataka, Nagaland, and Tripura for by-elections scheduled on April 9.
Officials said the process was conducted through the EVM Management System in the presence of representatives from recognised national and state political parties to ensure transparency. Constituency-wise lists of the randomised machines have also been shared with party representatives at district headquarters.
The machines will now be stored in designated strong rooms under strict security, with political party representatives allowed to monitor the arrangements. The Commission added that once candidates are finalised, detailed lists of both stages of randomisation will be shared to ensure full traceability and accountability.
The completion of the first phase marks a key step in election preparedness, reinforcing the Commission’s commitment to conducting free and transparent polls.
