Supreme Court's order, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued new protocol for handling and storage of ‘symbol loading units’ (SLUs) of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)
The Supreme Court had ordered that the machines should be sealed and secured in a container and stored in a strongroom along with the EVMs at least for 45 days post the declaration of results.
NEWS - Complying with the Supreme Court's order, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued new protocol for handling and storage of ‘symbol loading units’ (SLUs) of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) on Wednesday. The electoral authority has implemented this new protocol in response to directives from the Supreme Court in its ruling dated April 26.
In a statement on Wednesday, the poll authority directed all state chief electoral officers to create the necessary infrastructure and provisions to implement the new protocols for handling and storage of the symbol loading units.The Supreme Court on April 26 issued directions to seal and store symbol loading units and also paved the way for verification of microcontrollers embedded in EVMs on the request of candidates who stand second and third.
It directed that from May 1, the symbol loading units (SLU) should be sealed and secured in a container and stored in a strongroom along with the EVMs at least for 45 days post the declaration of results.
“On completion of the symbol loading process in the VVPATs undertaken on or after May 1, 2024, the symbol loading units shall be sealed and secured in a container. The candidates or their representatives shall sign the seal. The sealed containers, containing the symbol loading units, shall be kept in the strong room along with the EVMs at least for a period of 45 days post the declaration of results. They shall be opened, examined and dealt with as in the case of EVMs,” the bench directed.
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