Tension as poll official delays sealing of EVMs till midnight

The Election Commission had arranged a polling booth at Anagaputhur Government Higher Secondary School with 20 EVMs and Pammal Municipality Town planning inspector Thamaraiselvan as zonal in-charge of the booth. On Tuesday, after the polling got completed, Thamaraiselvan sealed only four EVMs by 8 pm. After that, he didn’t take steps to seal any EVMs till midnight. When the opposition party and few other political parties questioned the delay on part of officials there was no proper response from the latter.

Following this, the political parties informed the election higher officials and the District Collector. Later, after their intervention, the process of sealing EVMs was resumed. After the process got over at around 3.15 am, the EVMs were shifted to the strongroom. The political parties have filed a complaint with the Election Commission seeking action against the official for not following the protocol properly.