The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) stated that Printing Auxiliary Display Unit (PADU) machines will be on standby for technical issues during vote counting in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. These machines will not be standard but used in rare cases of technical problems. The BEL voting machines in use are ‘M3A’ models from the Election Commission of India.
The SEC directive emphasizes that the primary vote counting method involves connecting the Ballot Unit (BU) to the Control Unit (CU). BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani confirmed that PADU machines will serve as a backup only. The SEC stressed that PADU should be employed in exceptional situations hindering regular counting procedures.
A total of 140 PADU units are prepared for the BMC elections, to be activated in the presence of BEL technicians if necessary. Earlier, the SEC had mandated demonstrations of PADU functionality to political party representatives for transparency. BMC has conducted practical sessions to familiarize representatives with the process.
The SEC and BMC Commissioner issued clarifications following concerns raised by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray about the voting process. Thackeray questioned the transparency of introducing PADU as a backup during vote counting in case of EVM failure. He criticized the lack of information provided to political parties about the device’s implementation. Thackeray highlighted the absence of demonstrations on PADU functioning for the public and political parties.
