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

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

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

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

Minister for Public Works and Highways E.V. Velu and Minister for Handlooms and Textiles R. Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the new building in the presence of Collectors K. Sivasoundaravalli and J. U. Chandrakala in Tirupattur and Ranipet district respectively.

Spread over 8,000 sq.ft of space each, the new facility will be built at a cost of ₹5.67 crore each in these districts. It will also have a secure room where EVMs-VVPAT will be stored, separate rooms for police personnel, including women constables, a centralised CCTV monitoring room, which will be connected to the chambers of the Collector and Superintendent of Police, washrooms, and water taps.

At present, Tirupattur district has four assembly constituencies such as Tirupattur, Jolarpet, Vaniyambadi and Ambur. Arakkonam, Ranipet, Arcot and Sholinghur are assembly constituencies in Ranipet district with around 12 lakh voters in these districts.