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Defective EVMs hold up voters

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MAY 10. Polling officials' ignorance in handling electronic voting machines (EVMs) and technical snags in some machines caused inconvenience to voters in several parts of the State today.

According to the official version, there were complaints about the EVMs from 135 polling booths in the State. Technicians attached to the election process rushed to the booths concerned and found that in 90 of these cases the EVMs had no technical problems at all. In the rest of the cases, the EVMs were replaced and polling resumed immediately, said sources at the State Electoral Office.

In one booth at Vannamada in Palakkad district, the EVM was found to be defective only after several people had cast their votes, according to a report from Palakkad. The report said that the District Electoral Officer had recommended a repoll here. However, the State Electoral Office told The Hindu that the question of a repoll would arise only if the number of votes cast before the EVM was found to be defective exceeded the difference in the number of votes polled by the top two candidates in the constituency.

At one polling booth each in Majeri and Mukundapuram Lok Sabha constituency, voters and the polling agents complained about the working of the EVM. Whichever button the voter pressed, the vote was getting cast in the name of a particular candidate only, they said. They got a little agitated by this perceived `misdemeanour' of the machine, but their fears were set at rest and polling proceeded without any further problems.

In Idukki constituency, the replacement for a defective EVM too was found to be defective and a jeep that was carrying the replacement met with an accident. Polling was held up in the booth for three hours.

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