EC brings out protocol on symbol loading units as mandated by top court
The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday brought out a detailed protocol for the handling and storage of symbol loading units (SLU) in compliance with the Supreme Court’s order of April 26.
The top court issued directions to seal and store the SLUs in a container, and store them in a strongroom along with the electronic voting machines (EVMs) for at least 45 days after the declaration of results.
The SLU uploads the name and symbol of the candidates contesting a particular seat on Voter Veried Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) or paper trail machines.
The SLUs had till now been handed over to local election ocials by engineers of Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) or the EC before voting. A day after the polls, the SLUs used to be returned to the engineers of the two public sector undertakings that manufacture the ballot unit, the control unit, and the VVPAT, along with the SLUs.
The EC, in a statement on Wednesday, said that it had directed all State Chief Electoral Ocers to create the necessary infrastructure for the handling and storage of the SLUs in the EVMs in accordance with the new protocols being implemented from May 1 as mandated by the SC.
“Enough number of SLU containers, generally two to four per Assembly constituency, are to be kept ready in advance based on the requirements,” the EC said.
The revised protocols are applicable in all cases of completion of the symbol loading process in VVPATs undertaken on or after May 1. The top court had also paved the way for verication of micro-controllers embedded in the EVMs.