EC Dismisses Congress’ Charge That EVMs Used In Karnataka Were Deployed in South Africa

The Election Commission (EC) has rejected the Congress party’s claim that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls were previously deployed in South Africa and asked the party to bring to justice “rumour-mongers” who targeted it with false information.

In a letter addressed to Randeep Singh Surjewala, the AICC in-charge of Karnataka, the EC said it had used new EVMs manufactured by Electronics Corporation of India Limited for the polls in the southern state.

Congress Writes To EC Over EVMs
The Congress had written to the poll panel on May 8, raising concerns and seeking clarification over the deployment in the Karnataka election of EVMs previously deployed in South Africa and that too, without going through the process of revalidation and re-verification.

“The concern arises from the fact that this Honorable Commission has deployed EVMs which were previously deployed for elections in South Africa. We have been informed of this by various sources including the fact all these EVMs have been received directly back from South Africa without going through the process of re-validation and re-verification by the appropriate software/mechanisms by the manufacturer i.E. ECIL as also certification by the EC. This puts in serious doubt the entire validation process of the EVM itself,” Surjewala had said.

Citing records, the poll panel said the Congress had specific knowledge that only newly ECIL-produced EVMs would be used in Karnataka. It said Congress representatives participated in each stage of the EVM movement and commissioning for the Karnataka polls.