AHMED DEEPTO and DIPAN NANDY

The Election Commission is weighing options for the fate of around 1.5 lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs), which are now lying idle amid rising storage costs, missing units, and growing uncertainty over their final disposal.

Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud yesterday said the EC is set to take a decision based on a report from a committee formed with experts from Buet to assess the condition of the machines.

“What we’re doing is determining how many EVMs are there, where they are, in what condition and whether they are usable based on expert opinion.”

The expert committee will classify the machines into three categories -- fully usable, partly usable, and completely unusable -- and then submit a comprehensive report to the commission. “Action will be taken based on that report.”

Masud added that the issue would be placed before the EC at a meeting to be chaired by CEC AMM Nasir Uddin today.

Insiders said the commission is currently under pressure to settle the future of the machines, which have remained unused. The issue, they said, has remained unresolved even after the current EC dropped plans to use EVMs in the February national election.

Speaking to The Daily Star recently, EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, “These EVMs are lying around, taking up space, and have become a burden for us. Why would we get into more trouble by buying new ones? … The decision on EVMs is that we will not use them. Full stop.”

According to EC sources, among the 1.5 lakh EVMs purchased under a Tk 3,825.34 crore project, there are 148,401 in its inventory, while 1,599 cannot be traced. With each costing around Tk 2.35 lakh, the missing machines are worth about Tk 37.5 crore.

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