Voting machines worth Rs 45.55 bn needed for simultaneous polls: Law Panel

The Law Commission has said over Rs 45 billion (Rs 4,500 crore) will be needed to buy new EVMs and paper trail machines for "imminent" simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

In its draft report on simultaneous polls issued last week, the law panel quoted the Election Commission as saying that around 10,60,000 polling stations will be set up for the 2019 general elections.

"It (EC) further informed that as of now there is a shortfall of about 1.29 million ballot units, 940,000 control units and about 1.23 million VVPATs (voter verifiable paper audit trail machines or paper trail machines), if simultaneous elections are to be held," the report read.

According to it, an electronic voting machine (EVM), which includes a control unit (CU), a ballot unit (BU) and a VVPAT, costs about Rs 33,200.

Law panel backs simultaneous polls but 'several points need to be debated'

The Law Commission on Thursday suggested three options to hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls but said several points still remain to be addressed.

In a public appeal issued along with its draft report on holding the mammoth exercise, it said though many of the impediments in achieving synchronisation of LS and assembly elections have been addressed, some of the points would "still remain to be pondered upon."

It asked all stakeholders to suggest whether holding simultaneous elections, by any means, tinker with the democracy, basic structure of the Constitution or the federal polity of the country?

It said various committees and commissions have made suggestions to deal with the situation of hung Parliament or Assembly, where no political party has majority to form a government.