2419 EVMs malfunctioned, repolling in three booths

Bengaluru: Close to 4.18% of the total voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines deployed in the elections on Saturday malfunctioned before or during the polling. Incidents of disruptions of polling due to technical glitches in the VVPAT machines or EVMs were reported from many constituencies in the State. A total of 2419 machines created problems, of which, 1702 malfunctioned during the polling process.

Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said, “The percentage of VVPATs that developed snag is very high. However, the percentage is still lower than the acceptable limit of 5%.” He added that the Election Commission and the BEL engineers will look into the matter.

Kumar said that the number of EVMs that malfunctioned was far lower than the acceptable limit. Out of the 64,297 balloting units (BUs), only 693 malfunctioned which is around 1.07%. And out of the 57,786 control units (CUs), 815 malfunctioned which is 1.41%. Around 458 BUs and CUs created problems during the polling process.

There was a strange case of malfunctioning at the Gandhi Vidyalaya Kannada and Tamil School at Lottegollahalli in Hebbal constituency of Bengaluru. The button against the serial no. 9 in the EVM got stuck and without anyone pressing the button, the machine began generating the paper slip. The commission has ordered repolling in the booth on Monday.

There will be repolling in two other booths (booth numbers 20 and 21) in Kushtagi in Koppal district on Monday since electors cast their votes in the wrong booth. In the electoral rolls, 275 voters were shifted from booth no. 20 to 21. In spite of this, they were allowed to vote in booth no. 20 due to confusion in the mother roll and the supplementary roll. Sanjiv Kumar said that it was the mistake of the officials, who will face action for their carelessness.

The Election Commission has informed that around 11,000 officials will be involved in the counting process which will take place in 38 centres across the State. Tumakuru will have three counting centres, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga and Mysuru districts will have two centres each, and other electoral districts will have one centre each. The EVMs are kept in the counting centres under police protection.