The returning officer of the Mumbai North West constituency has clarified that OTP (one-time password) is not used for unlocking the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) as it is non-programmable and does not have any wireless or wired communication capabilities. mid-day had reported on June 16, citing a police officer investigating the case, that candidate Ravindra Waikar’s relative had a phone that unlocked the EVM. “The matter relates to unauthorised use of mobile phone of an authorised person by a candidate’s aide,” Returning Officer Vandana Suryavanshi said in a statement.

EVMs are standalone devices without any wired or wireless connectivity with units outside the EVM system. There is no OTP on mobile phones for unlocking EVM, as it is non-programmable and it has no wireless communication capabilities,” underlined Suryavanshi while addressing the media on Sunday at the collector’s office in Bandra. “We use EVMs to get the results of the votes by counting them. We seal the machines after voting and open them with the signatures of the counting agents on them,” she added.