Work to construct permanent building to store EVMs- VVPAT in Ranipet, Tirupattur begins

Ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, work has begun to construct a permanent building to store electronic voting machines-voter verifiable paper audit trail (EVMs-VVPAT) within the Collection buildings in Ranipet and Tirupattur districts.

Officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), which is carrying out the multi-crore study with funds from the Election Commission of India (ECI), said the existing dilapidated building of the Agriculture Department has been used to store EVMs, VVPATs and control units since the separation of the two districts from Vellore in 2019.

“The new facility will have two-tier security arrangements providing 24-hour surveillance, including CCTV cameras. The facility will be ready in the next few months,” said S. Thirupurasundari, Executive Engineer (EE), PWD (Ranipet). Hindu.

Public Works and Highways Minister EV Velu and Handlooms and Textiles Minister R. Gandhi laid the foundation stone of the new building in the presence of Collectors K. Sivasoundaravalli and JU Chandrakala in Tirupattur and Ranipet districts respectively.

The new facility, spread over 8,000 sq ft each, will be constructed at a cost of ₹ 5.67 crore for each of these zones. It will also have a secure room where EVMs-VVPAT will be stored, separate rooms for police personnel including women constables, rooms of Collector and Superintendent of Police, toilets and a central CCTV monitoring room which will be connected to water taps.

Currently, there are four assembly constituencies in Tirupattur district namely Tirupattur, Jolarpet, Vaniyambadi and Ambur. Arakkonam, Ranipet, Arcot and Sholinghur are assembly constituencies in Ranipet district and there are around 12 lakh voters in these districts.