The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) would be sealed immediately after counting, Assistant Returning Officer and Additional Collector Mahadev Kamber said on Wednesday.
Speaking to the officials at the training camp, Kamber said, immediate sealing of EVMs and VVPAT is necessary to keep it as a poof to clear doubts in case any candidate goes to court, he said.
He said, in the Raipur lok Sabha seat the process to seal the EVMs, VVPATs and other voting related equipments and materials will start at 4 pm in the strong rooms. A total of 180 officers and employees including those assigned with the work need to be present on May 16, the day of counting at Government Engineering College at Sejbahar at 4 pm.
Ten assistant engineers have been made In-charge of sealing while 70 junior engineers and 100 peons have been assigned to assist them in the work. One Assistant Engineer will be the In-charge of one Assembly constituency area and two junior engineer and four peons will assist him in the work of sealing of VVPAT slips and machines. The Additional Collector said necessary photo identity cards have been provided to the officials who would be engaged in the sealing works. No official would be allowed to enter into the Counting Centre without photo identity card.
Smoking is strictly prohibited in the Counting Centre. The sealing works would be videographed entirely. No media would be allowed to take photograph or video record the sealing process, he said. Security staff will also not be allowed to enter inside the Counting Room. They will have to stand near the Entry gate, he said. During training, master trainers M R Sawant and Dipankar Bhoumik described the need for sealing of the Ballot unit, Control unit, and other machines and documents.
They said the voting slips would be separated from the VVPAT machines and that will be kept in a black envelope and sealed with pink paper. The sealed envelope would be kept in a metal box and sealed.