The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : I-card not required; voter slips will do!

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 21, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

I-card not required; voter slips will do!

By Our Staff Reporter

SRIKAKULAM, APRIL 20. The much-campaigned photo identity cards or other documents for voter identification were evidently not insisted upon in today's polling in the district.

At several polling stations the traditional voter slips given by representatives of political parties were accepted and voters were allowed to exercise franchise. At the Government junior college at Tekkali, a bank employee was turned down while all his family members voted.

The employee, B Srinivasa Rao, came to vote and brought the identity card issued by the bank. But his name was wrongly entered as Someswara Rao. Because of the difference in the name he could be denied the vote. But that was not the reason. The vote had already been cast, he was told.

In the Harischandrapuram constituency several villagers of Brindavanam, a hamlet of Kasipuram, alleged that by the time they had arrived, their votes had been cast. Though voters brought their photo identity cards, polling staff, by and large, went by the voter slips. The voting, however, was much quick what with the electronic voting machines being introduced for the first time.

"It is much simpler than the earlier method of using ballot papers,'' said a villager, Krishna Rao, at Karajada in Srikakulam rural mandal. However, not everyone was comfortable with the EVMs. Old people, particularly women, both in rural and urban areas, had difficulty in using the machines and had to be guided.

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Andhra Pradesh