The initial hitches in starting the voting process in some of the polling stations in the district created discomfort among voters who thronged the booths as early as 7 a.m., an hour ahead of the start of polling process on Wednesday.
Many voters swarmed the polling stations early in the day in order to avoid the scorching summer sun. However, they were made to wait on the roads outside the school premises which did not have enough open space on the campus to accommodate the crowd.
At a polling booth in S. Alangalum near here, voters grew restless as they were not allowed to enter a panchayat union school campus even after 8 a.m. on the ground that the polling agents of various political parties should cast their votes first. The voters were heard murmuring that polling could have been started at 7 a.m. itself to give a respite from the scorching sun.
They found it tough to stand under the hot sun on the road sans any tree or shelter as the police allowed them to enter the school campus only in batches.
Similarly, difficulties arose in using the narrow passage to some polling stations such as those in Raj Nursery and Primary School on Nethaji Main Road in Meenambalpuram. Men, women and the aged as well polling officials had to get in and get out through the same, constricted entrance.
On the other hand, a few other private schools which had sufficient place to move around and also a good tree cover helped the aged and the women wait for a pretty long time to cast their votes without much ado. Many voters had to wait for more than an hour.
The Election Commission had also appointed Identification Officers to assist the voters in identifying their polling stations in schools which had many polling stations on the same campus.
