Store EVMs away from mobile towers to prevent rigging: NCP

Panaji: Votes, once polled in the upcoming assembly elections in Goa should be stored in a secure location and counted where there are no mobile towers to prevent any possible chances of rigging, state Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) general secretary Sanjay Barde said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after submitting a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer, Barde also said that polling should be held in Goa, during the last phase of the multi-state elections. "Counting should not be held in the vicinity of mobile towers. It should be done in an 'XYZ place' where there is no mobile range," the NCP leader said, alleging that electronic voting machines could be possibly tampered, with the help of cellular range.

He also said that elections in Goa should be held in the last phase of the 2022 elections, in which along with Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur, are also going to polls, unlike in 2017.

In 2017, Goa was one of the earliest states to go to polls in the early phase, but counting of votes was only taken up after the last phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh during the elections, which were spread over a month. "Goa elections should be held along with the last phase of voting in Uttar Pradesh, so that votes are counted immediately," Barde said, adding that the delay in counting of votes could also provide an opportunity for rigging.