Amid allegations that strongrooms housing Electronic Voting Machines(EVMs) were opened without proper authority, Dr Rathan U. Kelkar, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Kerala, on Tuesday issued a strict directive that no room at vote-counting centres be opened under any circumstances. He also instructed that unsealed rooms at the counting centres should not be opened.
The move follows reports that a strongroom storing EVMs in the Perambra constituency of Kozhikode was opened on Monday, and that plans are afoot to open another in the Nenmara constituency in Palakkad.
In his directive, the CEO stated that, under no circumstances, should any strongrooms or unsealed rooms be opened or accessed for preparing index cards or for verifying data on the ENCORE portal.
“All concerned officers have been directed to ensure strict compliance with these instructions to safeguard the integrity, transparency, and security of the electoral process,” a statement issued by the CEO said.
On Monday, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) alleged that a strongroom in the Perambra constituency, located at JDT College in Vellimadukunnu, Kozhikode, was opened without proper authority. Election officials denied the claims, stating that the main strongroom was not accessed, amid protests and demands for an inspection.
The Returning Officer of the Perambra assembly constituency clarified that the room that was opened did not contain EVMs and was accessed only to update data in the ENCORE software in the presence of candidates’ agents.
District Collector Snehil Kumar Singh, who is also the district election officer, said that an unsealed “material room” at JDT Islam Higher Secondary School here was opened on Monday morning in the presence of candidates’ agents to verify and update polling records. In a statement, he said EVMs and VVPATs were securely stored in a sealed strongroom on the first floor of the building under the supervision of central observers and candidates’ agents, and that room had not been opened.
Meanwhile, a decision to open a strongroom at Victoria College in Palakkad, where EVMs related to the Nenmara constituency are stored, to retrieve presiding officers’ diaries was cancelled following the controversy. The Palakkad District Collector clarified that it was not the strongroom that was supposed to be opened, but a material room, to collect Form 17A.
Meanwhile, a complaint has been filed alleging that the CCTV in the strongroom of the Guruvayur Assembly constituency was not functioning. It is alleged that the CCTV was non-operational for an hour from 4.30 pm to 5.30 pm, the other day. The UDF has filed a complaint with the Election Commission, terming the incident mysterious. The complaint was filed by the UDF candidate from the Guruvayur constituency, C.H. Rasheed.