Nationwide Awareness Campaign on EVMs and VVPATs Gears Up Ahead of Lok Sabha 2024 Elections
New Delhi, 18th January 2024: In anticipation of the upcoming General Elections to Lok Sabha in 2024, a comprehensive nationwide awareness programme on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) has been initiated. The objective of this initiative is to provide citizens with a hands-on experience of the voting process, enhance familiarity with the voting machines, and ensure a more informed electorate.
The awareness programme, a customary practice preceding every General Election, is designed to educate voters about the fundamental features of EVMs and VVPATs. It aims to elucidate the step-by-step procedure for casting votes and familiarize voters with the verification process through the VVPAT slip. The physical demonstration of EVMs and VVPATs contributes to a deeper understanding of their functionality, dispelling misconceptions, boosting voter confidence, and fostering an engaged and knowledgeable electorate.
Covering 3464 Assembly Constituencies across 613 Districts in 31 States/UTs (excluding the 5 states that recently underwent polls), the programme involves extensive outreach and awareness activities. More than 3500 demonstration centers and approximately 4250 mobile vans have been set up to physically showcase EVM/VVPAT functionality to the public. The Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) and District Electoral Officers (DEOs) are actively sharing updates on social media platforms to amplify the reach of this crucial awareness campaign.
According to the Election Commission of India’s standing instructions, state Chief Electoral Officers are required to initiate a focused awareness campaign approximately three months prior to the announcement of elections. The schedule for the awareness campaign is meticulously prepared by DEOs on an assembly constituency/segment-wise basis, and it is shared with National and State Recognized Political Parties, as well as local media.
The Commission has laid out a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the use of EVMs for Training and Awareness (T&A) purposes, including public demonstration programmes. The SOP encompasses protocols for the handling and storage of T&A EVMs, the use of only FLC-OK EVMs with dummy symbols, and the proper destruction of VVPAT slips generated during training and awareness campaigns. The list of EVMs used for T&A is also provided, along with acknowledgment to political parties, ensuring transparency and adherence to best practices in the electoral process.
