Will make sure that all voting places in J&K have real-time tracking and monitoring of EVMs and VVPATs
Jammu, March 9: During the Lok Sabha elections in J&K, more than 12,000 election duty vehicles will be outfitted with GPS trackers to monitor and trace the movement of electronic voting machines and virtual photo booths in real-time.
In order to accomplish this, a “GPS Control Room” will be established at the level of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and the District Election Officer (DEO). This room will be responsible for monitoring and tracking the movement of voting machines and virtual poll assistants (VVPATs) using the Vehicle Tracking System (VTS) and other relevant resources.
In order to guarantee honesty in the voting process, this system is being implemented in accordance with the directives of the Election Commission of India. It pertains to the transportation, storage, security, etc., of voter-verifiable paper audit trails (VVPATs) and electronic voting machines (EVMs).
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir has started a procedure in this regard.
Official sources asserted that there was a need to further simplify the handling of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and video token alteration machines (VVPATs), including reserve EVMs and VVPATs, which the Sector Officers carry for need-based replacement on election day.
Every vehicle owned by a polling party or a sector officer must have a GPS tracking system installed in order to keep track of the precise whereabouts of all voting machines and voter verification paper audit trails (EVPTTs) on election day and in the days leading up to the vote (including backup EVMs and VVPATs). They also said that the GPS-enabled vehicle surveillance system used by vehicles transporting EVMs and VVPATs would allow for real-time surveillance and monitoring of their whereabouts.
The election-duty cars are officially required to have GPS trackers installed, along with all the required gear, as directed by the Registration Officers (ROs) and the DEO. We anticipate a fleet size of 12,500 cars. Based on real needs computed once the election is declared, this amount may go up or down; therefore, it is just a rough estimate.
Vehicles will have GPS tracker devices installed inside. Vehicles would be stashed in various places throughout J&K. The CEO of J&K recently issued an RFP (Request for Proposal) about this matter.
Installing the GPS trackers within the specified time frame is mandatory under the RFP and the instructions provided by the relevant ROs and DEOs. Installing, configuring, and troubleshooting the GPS tracker devices requires a minimum of one technical specialist for every forty cars.
The services will be completely functional and operational for more than 700 voting sites beginning on the day of the election. At the office of the CEO in Jammu, a web-based portal with protected login would be offered, along with a GPS-based car tracking system to be implemented for election-duty vehicles.
The CEO and each DEO are responsible for providing the necessary “Attributes Data” to be used in mapping each GPS tracker device.
We will make sure that GPS trackers are installed, activated, and set up in all of the cars, and that they are integrated with the VTS software.
