Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | Election Commission accepts eight petitions seeking EVM verification

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has received applications from eight candidates, including from the BJP and Congress, to inspect EVMs to find out if the microcontroller chips were tampered with or changed after the results of the June 4 Lok Sabha elections were declared.

The Supreme Court had allowed unsuccessful candidates who secured second and third positions in the elections to seek verification of the microcontroller chips built into 5 per cent EVMs per assembly constituency through a written request after paying a fee to the commission.

According to the standard operating procedure issued by the EC on June 1, candidates who secure second or third position will have to pay Rs 47,200 (including GST) per set of EVMs for verification of their EVMs.

The total number of polling stations sought for verification is 92 across eight constituencies in six states, the Election Commission said in a statement.

BJP candidate Sujay Vikhe Patil, from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, has asked for verification of voting machines at 40 polling stations, the most of any candidate. BJP candidates in Vellore in Tamil Nadu (six stations) and Zahirabad in Telangana (20 stations) have also asked for verification.

The Congress candidate in Chhattisgarh’s Kankar constituency had sought verification of four polling stations, while candidates in Haryana’s Karnal and Faridabad constituencies had also sought verification of four and two polling stations respectively.

Candidates of YSRCP (2 polling stations) and DMDK (14 polling stations) from Vizyanagaram and Virudhunagar (14 polling stations) have also made a similar demand.

In the state assembly elections, the BJD candidate in Jasuguda sought confirmation in 13 polling stations, while the YSR Congress candidates in Gajapatinagaram (one polling station) and Ongole (12) sought confirmation.