CHENNAI: Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik on Saturday directed election officials in Madurantakam and Dharapuram, the two Assembly constituencies where bypolls were held recently, that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) should remain in strong rooms. The unprecedented advice has been made considering a possibility of election-related petitions to come up in the future.

No such communication had been issued by the Election Department after polling in the Assembly elections.

In a statement, Patnaik said the counting of votes in the by-elections had been completed successfully. She added that Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips had been taken out of the machines, placed in black envelopes and kept in the strong rooms for storage.

Detailing the security arrangements, she said the EVMs had been sealed in the presence of candidates and their representatives before they were locked in the strong rooms.

"EVMs will be kept in the strong room, as per the storage and security protocol prescribed by the Election Commission of India, till the finalisation of a list of election petitions by the Madras High Court. In case any election petition is filed, the EVMs will remain in the strong room till the final disposal of the petitions," Patnaik said.

According to sources, the Chief Electoral Officer issued the instructions to the electoral officers considering a surge in election-related petitions filed before the Madras High Court.

Around 55 election petitions challenging the victories of several high-profile candidates have been filed in 2026 in connection with the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Assembly elections. This is significantly higher than the 23 petitions filed in 2016 and 14 filed in 2021.

The 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election sprang several surprises, including the unusually high number of election petitions filed before the High Court, challenging the victories of several prominent candidates, including Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay.