The Election Commission on Tuesday dismissed claims by senior RJD leader Jagdanand Singh that every EVM used in the Bihar polls contained “25,000 pre-loaded votes,” calling the allegation “technically impossible” and contradicted by records signed by the party’s own agents.
Singh had alleged that the RJD’s weak performance — winning 25 of the 143 seats it contested — reflected irregularities. “Each EVM had 25,000 votes even before the polling began… and we still managed to win 25 seats,” he said after meeting party leaders at Tejashwi Yadav’s residence.
The EC said EVMs have no external connectivity, including WiFi, Bluetooth, or the internet, making tampering impossible. Before voting, every unit displays “0” votes for all candidates, followed by a mandatory mock poll conducted in front of political agents. “All mock votes are cleared and a mock poll certificate is jointly signed,” its statement said.
It added that EVMs undergo two layers of randomisation at district and constituency levels to ensure that “no one can predict which EVM will go to which booth.” The Commission said the allegation is “procedurally false” and unsupported by statutory documents signed by RJD representatives.
Political agents remain present during EVM randomisation , sealing, dispatch, polling, and storage, and strong rooms are sealed and signatures of all party representatives are taken. No broken seal, anomaly, or objection was ever reported by RJD at any stage. Further, every EVM is paired with a VVPAT unit, allowing visible verification of each vote, the statement said.
"Therefore, no credible evidence has been presented by Singh. On the contrary, RJD's own agents signed the mock poll certificates, Form 17C (account of votes recorded), and sealing documents without recording a single objection, fully contradicting the claim now being made," it added.
