Hyderabad, Nizamabad: Putting an end to speculation regarding the postponement of the elections and the use of ballot papers, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday instructed the State Election Commission to use electronic voting machines to conduct the election in the Nizamabad parliamentary constituency.
The ECI has issued orders to ECIL to supply sophisticated M3 or third generation electronic voting machines since older generation M2 machines can cater to a maximum of 64 candidates.
There are 185 candidates in the fray from this constituency, most of them farmers protesting the poor price for their produce, who decided to stand for election themselves.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, TRS candidate from this constituency, Kalvakuntla Kavitha, said she was ready to face the elections with either ballot papers or EVMs. “There is no difference. There will be no impact on the results whether EVMs or ballot papers are used,” she said. The opposition had raised doubts about the EVMs in the Assembly polls which the TRS won hands down.
The EC has ordered 26,820 ballot units, 2,240 control units and 2,600 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), as each polling booth in the constituency would require 12 balloting units, a control unit and a VVPAT.
After the nominations were finalised, the district election officer was asked to compile a report on the availability of poll infrastructure.
Based on the district election officer’s report, state’s chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar forwarded the requirement of new EVMs, control units and VVPATs.
The CEO’s office estimated that around 26,500 EVMs, including spares, would be needed.
