Shri A Srinivas said that as per the announcement of the general elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal on March 15, 2026 and by-elections in 6 states, all necessary steps are being taken to make the election process fair, transparent and credible.
While giving information, he said that the distribution of EVMs and VVPAT machines is being done in two phases through randomization under a transparent and impartial process. During the election process, in the first phase, machines are distributed from the district level warehouses to the assembly constituencies, while in the second phase, machines are distributed from the assembly constituency level to the polling stations.
He further informed that as per the Election Commission of India, the first randomization was completed by the District Election Officers through the EVM Management System in the presence of representatives of national and state level recognized political parties. Under this process, about 8.85 lakh EVM units were distributed for use in the elections.
Mr. Srinivas informed that the second randomization has been completed by the Returning Officers through the EVM Management System for the assembly elections to be held in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry and the by-elections to be held in Goa, Karnataka, Nagaland and Tripura on 9th April 2026. This process was also completed with complete transparency in the presence of all the candidates.
He said that the list of EVMs and VVPATs distributed under the first and second randomization will be shared with all the candidates, which will further strengthen the transparency and trust in the election process. The Chief Electoral Officer also informed that the second randomization for the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and the by-elections in the remaining two states will be done as per the rules after the last date for withdrawal of names by the candidates.