EC refutes reports regarding complaints of alleged movements of EVMs

The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday rubbished reports of alleged movement of EVMs purportedly to replace polled EVMs in strongrooms and terming them as "absolutely false".

"Complaints of alleged movement of EVMs, purportedly to replace polled EVMs in strongrooms, doing rounds in sections of media. Would like to unambiguously clarify that reports are absolutely false. Visuals seen viral on media do not pertain to any EVMs used during the polls," the EC said in a statement.

The poll watch dog stated that provisions and protocols have been explained to the political parties on multiple occasions including in several of the 93 meetings held with them at the Commission since the announcement of elections.

"The aspersions in clips being used in media merely pertain to the storage or movement of reserve unused EVMs. However any case of lapse even in the handling of reserve EVMs is thoroughly investigated and disciplinary action taken against the officers responsible," it clarified.

The statement came against the backdrop of an opposition parties complaining of attempts to replace EVMs from strongrooms after television channels purportedly shome movement of some EVMs after the end of polling in some constituencies in uttar Pradesh.

On May 18, Naidu urged the Election Commission to count votes through Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) instead of EVMs during counting for the Lok Sabha polls.

On May 7, the Supreme Court turned down a review plea by 21 opposition parties seeking a direction to increase random physical verification of VVPAT from five to at least 50 per cent of EVMs.