With two ballot units being used in the Tiruchi Lok Sabha constituency, there were complaints that the first and second ones were not placed in sequence in a few polling stations in the city.
With 29 candidates in the fray from the constituency, two ballot units were used in each polling booth as one ballot unit could accommodate only 16 names. In some of the polling booths the ballot units were reportedly positioned in the wrong sequence, with the second unit being placed first (on the left side).
The Aam Aadmi Party contended that the mix-up has caused confusion among voters and could potentially affect its chances. The party candidate P. Ravi said that the ballot units were not placed in sequence in the polling booth 134 at Nehruji Middle School at Melakondayampettai in the city, where he cast his vote. Mr. Ravi said officials agreed to set right the problem after a lengthy argument.
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“Illiterate and senior citizens are bound to have been confused and there is every chance that a voter might have pressed the wrong button,” he contended.
Mr. Ravi claimed that the problem was reported in polling booths at the Adi Sankarar ITI at Thiruvanaikovil, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Srimad Andavan Arts and Science College and Vignesh Sri Renga Matriculation School in Srirangam.
A similar mix-up was reported by voters in a polling station (No.208) at Corporation Middle School, Wireless Road, Kamaraj Nagar, in the city. With quite a few name-sakes of AIADMK and DMK candidates in the fray, the mix-up could have caused much confusion among voters, some political functionaries said.
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Mr. Ravi, in a representation to the Chief Election Commissioner, said that the mix-up will affect not only him but candidates of other political parties too and demanded re-polling.