Repoll today in six booths

By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau

CHENNAI, MAY 11. The Election Commission today ordered repoll in six polling stations in six Assembly constituencies following reports from the returning officers and election observers of bogus voting and malfunctioning of electronic voting machines.

The State's Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Mrutyunjay Sarangi said voting would take place tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 16G Corporation School on Seven Well Street in the Harbour constituency here, 134/AIF P. Thottiankulam village in the Aruppukottai constituency, 119/AIF Krishnaswamy School at Sainathapuram in the Vellore constituency, 128-G Ramaiyanpalayam in the Villupuram constituency, 3M SDA Matriculation School in Nataraja Nagar in the Tuticorin constituency, and 96 A1F St. Agnes School in Ponmalaipatti in both the Thiruverambur Assembly constituency and the Tiruchi Lok Sabha constituency.

In the Harbour polling station, the repoll was being held on account of some men entering the booth and punching the EVM repeatedly. In Vellore, there were complaints from the TMC of bogus voting by DMK men with the ``connivance'' of polling officials. In Villupuram too, miscreants created trouble and this led to suspension of the polling process for some time. In Tuticorin, the presiding officer was threatened by some people and there was forced voting. However, in the booths at Aruppukottai and Thiruverumbur, repolling was necessitated by the malfunctioning of EVMs. There was a discrepancy in the number of votes polled and the number shown on the EVMs. Mr. Sarangi said the instances did not show any ``mechanical failure but were possibly due to some linking error''.

State records 59.05 per cent

In one of the lowest voter turnout in the last 11 elections, Tamil Nadu recorded only 59.05 per cent voting during Thursday's elections. Mr. Sarangi attributed the low voter turnout to two main factors, viz., the summer heat - it was one of the hottest days - and the near-total elimination of bogus voting.

The Vedaranyam constituency in Nagapattinam district recorded the highest polling of 73.84 per cent. Second came Tiruvidaimarudhur in Thanjavur district with 72.98 per cent. The lowest polling percentage was recorded in the Harbour constituency (39.94), Tambaram (41.25) and Mylapore (41.33).

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Section  : State Elections
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