In connection with the upcoming Bye-Election to 27–Assembly Constituency Budgam, the Supplementary Randomization of EVMs was today conducted at Budgam under the supervision of the District Election Officer (DEO) Budgam, Dr. Bilal Mohi-ud-Din Bhat.

The randomization was carried out using the EVM Management System (EMS) developed by the Election Commission of India, in accordance with the guidelines laid down in the Manual on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
The exercise was conducted in the presence of representatives of National and State Recognised Political Parties, ensuring complete transparency and adherence to the prescribed procedures.
During this supplementary randomization, 240 Ballot Units (BUs) were randomly selected for deployment. As the number of contesting candidates in the constituency has increased to 17, two Ballot Units will be used in each polling station during the upcoming bye-election.
Following the completion of the randomization process, the constituency-wise lists of EVMs were generated and shared with all the National and State Recognised Political Parties such as, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National Congress, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, and Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the district headquarters.
Besides, political parties, RO to 27-AC budgam, Dy.DEO budgam , DIO informatics and concerned concerned officers were present.
These EVMs will subsequently be handed over to the Returning Officer/Assistant Returning Officer concerned for use in the polling process and will be stored securely in the designated Assembly Strong Room in the presence of representatives of recognised political parties.
After the finalization of the list of contesting candidates, the details of first randomized EVMs will also be shared with all the contesting candidates.
The entire process was conducted in a transparent, fair, and systematic manner as per the Election Commission of India’s guidelines to ensure credibility and confidence in the electoral process.