The Hindu : National : The family that votes together

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Friday, May 01, 2009
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The family that votes together

— Photo: BY Special Arrangement

STAR CITIZENS: Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, with their son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya, outside a polling station in Mumbai where they cast their vote on Thursday.

Corrections and Clarifications:

A standalone picture ("The family that votes together", May 1, 2009), by special arrangement, of the Bachchan family outside a polling station in Mumbai, and displaying the indelible ink mark on their middle fingers led to queries on whether their votes would be in/valid, whether there was a different rule for them, and a remark that the gesture was vulgar. The normal standing instruction is that the ink should be applied on the left index/forefinger (though there are alternate rules in case the forefinger is missing or if there are no fingers in some disabled persons). The Deputy Election Commissioner J.P. Prakash says that since many parts of Maharashtra had local body elections from December 2008 to February 2009, there were many voters who still had the indelible mark on their left hand index finger. To avoid any confusion in General Elections 2009, the decision was made to apply the indelible ink on the left middle finger of all voters during the two phases of Lok Sabha elections held in the State. In Karnataka, controversy has arisen over Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa's indelible ink mark being on his right instead of his left forefinger. The Bangalore Bureau says that the Chief Election Officer has ordered an enquiry.

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