Tripura receives required 4,700 EVMs for upcoming polls, seeks 800 more VVPAT units from EC

Agartala: Tripura’s Chief Electoral Officer Sriram Taranikanti has said the required number of 4,700 Electronic Voting Machines have arrived in the state where assembly election is due early next year. [caption id=“attachment_4254919” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Taranikanti said 260 companies of central paramilitary forces were used in Tripura in the last assembly election in 2013 and the Centre was requested for more forces this year. “A total of 4,700 EVMs have reached Tripura. That is the required number of EVMs for the assembly election,” Taranikanti told reporters in Agartala on Saturday evening. He said 4,080 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were also dispatched to the state for use along with the EVM units. But the state election authorities have sought 800 more VVPAT units from the Election Commission, he said. Technical personnel from the Electronics Corporation of India Limited would soon visit Tripura to test the EVMs and VVPATs. Taranikanti said the election authorities here have urged the Centre for more than 260 companies of central paramilitary forces used in the state in last assembly polls. However, he said, the requirement of central forces could be estimated only after nomination and scrutiny process is completed. Returning officers have started the process of identifying sensitive and vulnerable booths and they would also finalise requirement for security forces in the areas.