New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday apprised the Supreme Court that all three units (i.e. ballot unit, control unit and VVPAT) of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have their own microcontroller.
“These microcontrollers are housed in secured unauthorised access modules so they cannot be accessed physically also,” submitted an ECI official before a bench presided over by Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
The official further told the Bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, that the microcontrollers used in the poll process are “one-time programmable” and this programme burned at the time of manufacturing cannot be changed at a later stage.
He added that two manufacturers, namely Electronics Corporation of India Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited prepare the symbol loading units (SLUs). The poll body official explained that after counting is over, all the EVMs are stored till the expiry of the 45-day limitation period provided for the institution of an election petition under the Representation of the People Act.
