Telangana State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sudarshan Reddy today said that not a single written application had been received from eligible candidates seeking verification of the burnt memories or microcontrollers of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used in the 61-Jubilee Hills Assembly Constituency by-election.
He said that after the declaration of the election results, candidates who had secured the second or third highest number of votes could have requested verification of up to 5% of the total EVMs. This verification would have been carried out by a team of engineers from the manufacturing companies, he said.
However, he said that such a request needed to be submitted in writing within seven days from the date of the results, and that the District Election Officer/Returning Officer did not receive any such applications during the stipulated period, from November 14 to 21.
The CEO said that the entire election process was conducted in a completely transparent manner as per the guidelines, rules and security standards set by the Election Commission of India, and that all steps had been taken to further strengthen public trust in the system.