Pune District Conducts Meticulous Randomization of Voting Machines for Lok Sabha Elections

Pune, 5th April 2024: In a significant development concerning the upcoming elections in Maval, Pune, Baramati, and Shirur Lok Sabha constituencies within the Pune district, a meticulous district-level randomization process of 11,898 voting machines was conducted. These machines are slated to be allocated across 8,382 polling stations within the district. The process unfolded under the supervision of the Collector and District Election Officer, Dr. Suhas Diwase.

Taking place at the collector’s office, the randomization process witnessed the presence of key officials including Maval Election Returning Officer Deepak Singla, Baramati Election Returning Officer Kavita Dwivedi, and Shirur Constituency Election Returning Officer Ajay More. Additionally, Deputy District Election Officer Meenal Kalaskar and other officials such as EVM Management Co-ordinating Officer Rupali Awale and District Informatics Officer Pramod Borwale attended the event.

A computerized system facilitated the randomization of 11,898 ballot units, 11,898 control units, and 12,749 VVPAT machines to meet the requirements of the four Lok Sabha constituencies within the district. Before this, Collector Dr Diwase briefed political party representatives about the process.

Following a thorough first-level inspection conducted in the presence of political parties, all voting machines were deemed optimal. Each assembly constituency will have 141 % of ballot and control units and 152% of VVPAT machines. These machines will be securely stored in the respective assembly constituency’s strong room, with those designated for the Pune Lok Sabha constituency being housed in the Food Corporation of India’s godown. Dr Diwase underscored that the distribution of voting machines would also entail their mixing within assembly constituencies.

During the randomization phase, participants included Yogesh Babar from Shiv Sena (UBT), Ganesh Nalavde from the Nationalist Congress Sharadchandra Pawar Party, Rajabhau Shedge from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Ashok Kamble from the Republican Party of India (Athawale faction), Ramesh Sakat from the Indian National Congress, Ajit Gavhane from the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), Raju Gawli from Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), as well as representatives from other political factions and officials overseeing the election procedures.