Expressing concern over “lack of adequate security arrangements” for the electronic voting machines (EVMs), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab on Tuesday urged the Election Commission to strengthen and upgrade the security of buildings with EVMS and counting centres.
Senior AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema demanded the chief electoral officer (CEO) S Karuna Raju said to install CCTV cameras at the counting centers and buildings with EVMs and share the link of the live feed with the candidates.
Cheema said that the voting process for the Punjab Assembly elections had been completed peacefully. But various AAP candidates have expressed concern over the lack of adequate security arrangements for the voting machines. He said that as per the information received, the buildings where the voting machines have been kept do not have strict security arrangements and in many places, there is lack of security and proper lighting.
Cheema said that AAP candidate from Patiala, Ajitpal Singh Kohli had expressed concern over the lack of proper security of voting machines kept at Mahindra College in Patiala city. According to Kohli, “the Mahindra College building does not have adequate security personnel and lighting. Apart from this, a large part of the college has been found to be unsafe, due to which the machines in the college could be tampered with”.
The AAP leader said besides Patiala, there are complaints from various districts which demand immediate attention of the CEO. He said it was the responsibility of the candidates including the election officials to maintain the confidence of the people in the democratic system.
Cheema said that Aam Aadmi Party Punjab has demanded from the CEO of the state to provide three layer security to the buildings across Punjab where the voting machines are kept and the centers where the counting of votes is to be done. Proper lighting and CCTV cameras should be installed and live feed from the buildings should be shared with the candidates.
AAP also demanded the deployment of Central security agencies to protect all the buildings and permission to all contesting candidates to enter the buildings.