Voting was moderate to brisk in Mangalore and surrouding areas where over 40 per cent of the votes had been cast by about 1 p.m. In some booths in Bantwal constituency polling had exceeded 50 per cent by noon.
In three polling booths (No.s 161 to 163) in Kalladka Primary School under Bantwal constituency from where former Minsiter B. Ramanath Rai (Cong) is seeking reelection, nearly half the voters had already cast their votes by 11 a.m. Among the voters was Jayanti of Nitla, who carried her 7-month old baby. Polling officials ensured that she did not wait in the queue.
There were long queues in three booths in Ullal which is part of Mangalore constituency from where U.T. Khader of Congress is seeking re-election.
In Mangalore there was a long queue of voters at 8 a.m. in booth no. 72 in St. Aloysius Primary School, which is in Mangalore City South constituency from where N. Yogish Bhat of the BJp is seeking re-election for the fourth consecutive term. In Mannagudda Higher Primary School however there was hardly any queue.
Webcast troubles
Some of the Engineering students who have been roped in for live webcast of about 400 booths in the district had trouble in accomplishing their task in the initial hours of polling. In Rita's High School in Jeppu, establishing internet connection with the data card provided by the election commission was difficult and students did not have the required length of power chord to shift the laptop to get good angle for the camera. At Infant Mary school in Valencia, students said the signals were weak though they had been provided with wi-fi equipment to connect to the internet. Some students complained that the place given to them in the booths was not apt for the webcast.
Tussle
An officer on election duty near two polling booths in University College near Hampanakatta in the heart of the city when he asked political parties to remove the party banners from the tents they had pitched to help the voters. Though political parties pointed out that they had been given written permission to display the party banner, he ensured that they were removed. The political parties put them back after a higher official intervened.
