Malkangiri/Jeypore/ Chhatrapur: Voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha was delayed as the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) equipment developed glitches at several polling booths Thursday morning.
Voters in Malkangiri who visited polling booths – Nos 22, 65, 116, 176, 177, 161, 165 and 183 – alleged that EVMs had malfunctioned. “No matter what EVM button we press, the votes went to one ‘particular’ party,” alleged a voter who spent hours in a serpentine queue. However, after a few minutes of the complaint, officials rushed to the polling booths and replaced the EVMs following which voting resumed.
Hundreds of voters hit the streets and lit tyres in the afternoon in protest alleging official callousness in replacing ‘faulty’ EVMs. “Although the ‘defunct’ EVMs were replaced three consecutive times, the voters still found it hard to cast their votes,” said an agitated voter, adding that it had become a joke of the democratic system.
The situation was no different in Jeypore town (in Koraput district) where voting was delayed by over 45 minutes as an EVM at Pail Sahi in booth No. 195 under Ward 21 developed some snag. A few voters returned home without casting their votes in disgust, while others managed to exercise their franchise after the machine was replaced.
Polling process saw a delay of over two hours in Chhatrapur (Ganjam district) after the EVM and VVPAT equipment at two booths malfunctioned. Sources said the VVPAT machine at booth number 26 in Duanpalli malfunctioned, while the EVM at booth 22 of Sikharpalli developed glitches. However, it was around 9.30am when the technicians rushed to the booths and replaced the faulty machines with new ones following which the voting process resumed.
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