As many as 7,047 votes could not be counted in the Lok Sabha polls this year because of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Detailed results released by the Election Department following an RTI (Right to Information) query show that votes could not be retrieved from one or more electronic voting machines in nine of the 20 constituencies in the State. The largest number of votes that could not be retrieved was in the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency (1,610) followed by Kannur (1,145). The lowest was in Kollam (where one voting machine malfunctioned after one vote was cast).
The margins of victory in all the nine constituencies were higher than the number of votes that could not be retrieved. Hence, it did not significantly affect the results.
