Elderly voting hindered in Pappireddipatti: CEO Satyabrata Sahoo

The Election Commission has ordered repolling at 13 polling stations in Tamil Nadu based on the reports of a district election officer and returning officers.

“The district election officer of Dharmapuri has stated that it is proved beyond doubt that the polling agents entering inside the voting compartment along with the voters on many occasions in eight polling station. In some cases, the votes of elders were cast either by party polling agents or the persons accompanying the aged. Since the voters have not cast their votes in a free and fair manner, returning officer Dharmapuri and Pappireddipatti Assembly constituency have recommended repoll in all the eight polling stations,” Sahoo clarified.

Regarding the controversies related to shifting of electronic voting machines, CEO Sahoo said that the voters’ verifiable paper audit trail (VVPATs) will be counted in all polling stations where there are complaints and objections. As of now, 46 polling stations have been reported to have minor errors during mock drills or during polling. The errors were found during polling in 46 booths across 13 districts and the same has been communicated to the EC. The presiding officers of these 46 booths did not format the EVMs after mock polling and hence the confusion, Sahoo noted.

To ensure error-free results the VVPATS will be counted along with the EVMs on the day of counting. If there are any contradictions between the EVMs and VVPATS, the same will be reported to the Election Commission seeking action. When asked will this delay the announcement of results, the CEO said that this will not take much time as counting of VVPATS will be taken only in selected polling stations.

Earlier in the day, the CEO conducted a review meeting with district election officials to review the bypolls in four Assembly constituencies and 13 polling stations. The CEO also instructed the Collectors to ensure 100 per cent distribution of booth slips and provide facilities to help the aged and differently abled voters to cast their voteswith ease.

Training to polling staff and deployment of government staff in counting stations were also discussed during the high-level video conference meeting. Provision of drinking water and sun shades for electorates were insisted. The CCTV surveillance and movement of flying squads to prevent cash for votes were also discussed by poll officials. The CEO also instructed the Collectors to enhance the police and central paramilitary force protection in all counting stations.