CUDDALORE: District Election Officer and Collector Sibi Adithya Senthil Kumar on Wednesday sealed the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at the storage warehouse on the District Collectorate campus, in the presence of representatives from recognised national and state political parties.
Addressing the media, the District Election Officer said the First Level Checking (FLC) of EVMs had been completed and the machines were now securely stored, in accordance with directions from the Election Commission of India ahead of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly general election, 2026.
“The First Level Checking process began on December 11, 2025, at the EVM storage warehouse and concluded on Wednesday. The process was monitored daily,” he said, adding that 11 engineers from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bengaluru, conducted the verification.
In Cuddalore district, a total of 12,217 machines – including 3,569 control units, 4,759 ballot units and 3,889 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units – were checked. Of these, 11,933 machines were found to be in working condition, while 284 defective machines will be returned to BEL.
From the functioning machines, 669 units will be deployed across Assembly segments for training and voter awareness programmes.