New Delhi, April 5 – The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Sunday that the process of installing Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with candidate settings for the 2026 Assam Legislative Assembly elections has been successfully completed across all 126 assembly constituencies in the state.
According to an official statement, over 41,000 ballot units will be used in the election scheduled for April 9.
The EVM commissioning exercise was carried out from March 31 to April 4 at designated premises notified by the respective District Election Officers.
The process was conducted in the presence of contesting candidates or their authorized representatives, ensuring full transparency and adherence to prescribed guidelines, the statement said.
Authorized engineers and technical personnel from the Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. (ECIL) assisted in the commissioning process to ensure the accuracy, reliability, and proper configuration of the machines, it added.
A total of 41,320 Ballot Units (BUs), 43,975 Control Units (CUs), and 43,997 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units have been commissioned for use in the forthcoming polls. These include reserve machines to be utilized, if required, across 31,490 polling stations in Assam.
The successful completion of the commissioning process marks a significant milestone in election preparedness, reinforcing the Election Commission’s commitment to conducting free, fair, and transparent elections, the statement said.
In another development, the ECI said that flying squads and surveillance teams have seized Rs 4 crore in cash in the state in the run-up to the election.
Apart from cash, 6,84,627 litres of liquor, worth Rs 20 crore, has also been confiscated in Assam.
The ECI said that drugs worth Rs 56 crore, precious metals worth Rs 4 crore, and other freebies valued at Rs 13 crore have been seized in the state till April 5.
The total value of cash, contraband, and freebies recovered in Assam so far stands at Rs 97 crore, the ECI said.
The Commission has held multiple review meetings with Chief Secretaries, Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs), Directors General of Police (DGPs), and senior officers from the five poll-bound states/UTs and their 12 bordering states/UTs, along with heads of enforcement agencies. It has directed them to ensure violence-free, intimidation-free, and inducement-free elections, the statement added.
