GADAG: The state’s first Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) warehouse was inaugurated by Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar in Gadag on Thursday. Built at a cost of Rs 2.65 crore, the new facility has come up behind the District Commissioner’s office. The highly-secured building has a first-level checkroom near the entrance and four interconnected halls dedicated to the four Assembly segments in the district.
All the halls are equipped with CCTV cameras, fire extinguishers and emergency alarms. The facility will also have a separate room for first-level checking of EVMs after the polls. Under Phase I, the warehouse has been provided with a dedicated space to store EVMs and VVPATs. The agency entrusted with the job of supplying equipment to the warehouse during elections will conduct a trial run soon.
State Election Commission Joint Chief Electoral Officer V Raghavendra, Regional Commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas and DC Sundaresh Babu N were present.“The facility has been built keeping in mind the measures to be taken to protect EVMs and VVPATs. It will also help in maintaining transparency during counting of votes,” an official said.