Mumbai: Responding to allegations made by opposition party members in Maharashtra, who claimed that an EVM machine was hacked by a mobile phone in a Mumbai suburb during vote counting, resulting in the victory of Ravindra Waikar of Shiv Sena (Shinde), Returning Officer Vandana Suryavanshi issued a statement on Sunday denying such an incident.
During a press conference, she stated, “No OTP (one-time password) is required to unlock EVMs. These machines have advanced technical features and do not contain any communication devices. EVMs are a fully secure, standalone system and do not require any OTP.”
Her clarification came following a police case involving a relative of Waikar who was allegedly seen using a mobile phone within a counting center to unlock an EVM. The FIR (First Information Report) was filed based on a complaint from Suchitra Patil, an assistant election officer.
