'No bogus voting in three districts'

S. Vijay Kumar

MADURAI, MAY 11. The 12th Tamil Nadu Assembly elections has the distinction of being the first in the State to have registered no invalid votes and with hardly any complaints of bogus voting, claim officials. Thanks to the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Electronic Photo Identity Cards (EPIC), which not only simplified the election process but also made it distinctively reliable.

The poll turnout is around half the total electorate and all those who exercised their franchise are said to be genuine voters. There has not been a single complaint of bogus voting in Madurai, Sivaganga and Virudhunagar districts where elections were held for 21 Assembly segments.

The overwhelming patronisation of EPIC and optimum utilisation of EVMs have enabled election authorities to minimise the manual procedures during polling. The percentage of votes cast by the electorate with EPIC in the three districts was 88.12 in Madurai, 74.76 in Sivaganga and 82.88 in Virudhunagar district.

In the case of voters who produced documents in support of their identity, the polling officers strictly followed a rigid set of norms laid down by the Election Commission to ensure that there was no misuse, it is claimed.

``The identity of every voter who cast his vote was clearly ascertained and the system was foolproof. The EVMs, which were used all over the district for the first time have produced the desired results,'' the District Election officer and Collector, Mr. V. Thangavelu told The Hindu today.

However, despite adequate measures taken to familiarise the people with the EVMs, voters in the rural areas, particularly women, found it difficult to handle them. One EVM reportedly showed zero votes after hours of polling in P. Thottiyankulam women's booth in Aruppukottai in Virudhungar district forcing the election authorities to order a repoll on May 12.

The Virudhunagar District Election Officer and Collector, Mr. M. Saikumar, said Village Administrative Officers and Village Assistants were posted at all booths to ascertain the identity of voters and validity of the documents they produced. ``This was an election barring invalid votes and bogus franchise,'' he added.

Moreover, the prediction of officials and politicians that the poll turnout in urban areas would be more than that in the rural pockets went wrong. The highest turnout in Madurai district was recorded in the Sholavandan segment with 67.5 per cent, while the lowest was in the Madurai West with 49 per cent. Similarly, the highest turnout in Sivaganga district was in the Tiruppattur segment with 67 per cent.

The only hiccup was the deletion of voters' names from the electoral rolls. While some voters carrying their EPIC resorted to a road blockade in Madurai, others represented the issue to none other than the Assembly Speaker, Mr. P.T.R Palanivel Rajan.

The District Collector, Mr. Thangavelu, however, clarified that the names of voters were deleted from the voters list well in advance and the new list was displayed in the respective local body offices. ``We gave enough opportunity to the voters to furnish their new addresses before deleting their names in existing rolls.''

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Section  : State Elections
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