Aggrieved candidates will have to pay Rs 47,200 for EVM microcontroller verification

NEW DELHI: Candidates who come second or third and seek verification of tampering or modification in microcontroller chips embedded in electronic voting machines will have to pay Rs 47,200 per EVM set, according to the standard operating procedure issued by the Election Commission.

An electronic voting machine (EVM) set has a Ballot Unit, Control Unit and the VVPAT.

The "administrative SOP", based on a recent Supreme Court ruling, was issued by the poll body on June 1, ahead of counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections.

While votes were counted for the Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim assembly polls on Sunday, the exercise is being carried out for the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha assembly elections on Tuesday. The polls were held simultaneously with the general elections.

Terming the suspicion of manipulation of the EVMs "unfounded", the Supreme Court had on April 26 rejected the demand for reverting to the old paper ballot system.

But at the same time, the top court had opened a window for aggrieved unsuccessful candidates securing second and third places in poll results and allowed them to seek verification of microcontroller chips embedded in five per cent EVMs per assembly constituency on a written request upon payment of a fee to the poll panel.

According to the Election Commission's SOP, the cost submitted by manufacturers BEL and ECIL to carry out EVM "check and verification" is Rs 40,000 (plus 18 per cent GST) per set of EVM.

"In addition to the cost incurred by the manufacturers, there are also administrative costs like cost of labour to shift the units, CCTV coverage, electricity charges, videography costs and various other operational costs at the district election officer level," the document said.

It, however, said to make the verification process "more accessible" and inclusive in compliance to the referred mandate of the Supreme Court, it is decided that instead of going purely by the actual economic costs incurred, the administrative expenditure on EVM verification will be treated as "election expenditure and borne by the central or state government, as the case may be".

"Accordingly, the administrative charges will be waived for the applicants -- the same shall not be charged to the applicants," it noted.

The charges for EVM verification to be paid by the applicant candidate has been fixed at Rs 40,000 (plus 18 per cent GST) -- which comes to Rs 47,200 -- per set of EVM for the current financial year 2024-25 -- till March 31, 2025, it said.

The EVM verification will be restricted to a maximum of 20 ballot units, 10 control units and 10 VVPATs.

If both the eligible candidates choose to request for five per cent EVM check, then each of them may be allowed to select 2.5 per cent of the control units, ballot units and VVPAT each pertaining to assembly segment for the checking and verification.

The aggrieved candidates can apply for EVM check within seven days of declaration of results.