Officials confused as booths were scattered to minimise COVID risk

As the booths at some polling stations were scattered in the neighbourhood to minimise COVID risk, some of the officials on poll duty had no information about the booths.

For instance, at the booth in Thanthai Periyar School at Puzhuthivakkam in Sholinganallur constituency, the ill-informed polling staff sent a few voters to a school a few hundred metres away from the designated polling station. But when they reached the school, there were no polling booths. Later, it was found that the booths in the same polling station in Thanthai Periyar School.

When asked, neither the polling staff nor the security personnel were aware of the number of booths there. The information desk that crosschecks the electoral roll was also missing at the polling station. Unable to bear the sweltering heat, some of the voters returned home disappointed without casting their vote.

Also, social distancing norm was disregarded at the booths in Virugambakkam and Sholinganallur constituencies where neither polling staff nor the voters cared to comply with the safety norms. In some booths, the officials are voters did not bother to wear masks properly.