Ahead of the Assembly election to be held in Tamil Nadu on April 23, 2026 the commissioning of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) units for all constituencies began on Thursday (April 16), in the presence of candidates or their authorised representatives, as well as general observers, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said.

“[The] Commissioning will be followed by a mock poll of 1,000 votes in 5% of the EVMs randomly selected by the candidates or their representatives. They will also be allowed to do the mock polls themselves,” an official release said.