ECI to Verify Microcontrollers of EVMs | 20 Jul 2024

Recently, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has released Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for verifying the burnt memory (or microcontrollers) of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) systems.

Following the Supreme Court's order in Association of Democratic Reforms v. Election Commission of India Case, 2024, the EC allowed verification of up to 5% of EVM and VVPAT microcontrollers in Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies upon written request from the second and third-place candidates.
A mock poll of up to 1,400 votes per machine will be conducted, and if results match the VVPAT slips, it indicates that there is no tampering with the burnt memory and they are considered verified.
- However, the procedure for handling mismatches remains undecided.
The technical SOP was prepared by two public sector units (PSUs) that manufacture EVMs: Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL).
Electronic Voting Machine (EVM):
It consists of 2 parts, a Control Unit (CU) and a Ballot Unit (BU).
- The Ballot Unit (BU) allows voters to cast their votes and shows candidates and symbols, while the Control Unit (CU) manages the BU and processes data.
The EVMs were first used in 1982 in the bye-election to the Paravur Assembly Constituency of Kerala.