Voting machine snag due to excessive light: EC
New Delhi, June 8: A number of electronic voting machines (EVMs) malfunctioned in two places in the recent bypolls due to "excessive exposure to illumination", the Election Commission (EC) said on Friday.
The EC had formed two special teams to look into the unusually high number of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines malfunctioning in Uttar Pradesh's Kairana and Maharashtra's Bhandara-Gondiya on May 28.
The preliminary report found two major technical reasons for the malfunctioning -- failure of contrast sensor and failure of the length sensor.
"These errors are mainly caused by excessive exposure to illumination in the polling stations," the EC said, citing the preliminary report submitted by the probing teams.
The EC has now asked the manufacturers to do a detailed technical analysis once the VVPATs are free from election petition -- the 45-day period after election when EVMs and VVPATs have to be mandatorily kept in the strong rooms.
"The commission has asked the manufacturers and the technical expert committee (TEC) to suggest additional design improvements as well as suggestions on any layout changes in the polling stations to prevent any excessive exposure to illumination in future," the poll panel said.
"The commission has also adopted the hardware improvement recommended by the TEC to prevent auto shut down of VVPATs due to excessive light," it added.
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Allahabad High Court directs Centre to decide on Rahul Gandhi's citizenship by December 19
Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has instructed the Union Home Ministry to decide on a petition regarding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Indian citizenship. The Bench, led by Justice Attau Rahman Masoodi and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, set a deadline of December 19, 2024, for the government to update the Court on the matter.
The petition, filed by S Vignesh Shishir, requests a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations that Rahul Gandhi holds British citizenship. Shishir claims that evidence, including confidential emails shared by VSS Sarma, suggests Gandhi may be a British citizen. However, due to UK data protection laws, the British government has not disclosed full details without Gandhi's consent.
During the November 25 hearing, Deputy Solicitor General SB Pandey informed the Court that the Home Ministry is reviewing the representation. The Court directed the government to report on the status of the petition by the next hearing on December 19.
A similar petition challenging Rahul Gandhi's citizenship is pending before the Delhi High Court, where the matter will be heard after the Allahabad High Court's proceedings.
