Voters braved the scorching heat to turn up in large numbers to exercise their franchise in the Assembly election across central region on Tuesday.
Polling passed off peacefully in all 41 Assembly constituencies in the nine districts in the region.
An elaborate safety protocol was in put in place in view of the pandemic at the polling stations. Civic workers checked body temperature, sprayed sanitisers and handed out gloves to voters before they entered the polling stations. Many of the polling officials were seen wearing face shields.
In some booths, however, thermal scanners were not provided in Tiruchi city. Some voters found it difficult to wear the gloves made of thin polythene sheets. The flimsy material gave away when they tried to wear it. Authorities too struggled to enforce social distancing, especially in rural areas.
Nevertheless, many voters were appreciative of the preventive measures. “The arrangements were good, especially the provision of sanitiser, glove and safety gear. The Election Commission deserves appreciation,” said Kuppan Chetty, a resident of Anna Nagar.
Shamianas erected in front of the polling booths gave much needed cover to the waiting voters. The provision of wheelchairs also came in handy for senior citizens.
Voting pattern that was visibly varied across the district in the morning hours gathered pace during the course of the day. While booths in urban areas encompassing Tiruchi East and West constituencies witnessed queues of voters waiting to exercise their franchise within an hour of the start of the polling process, the process was sluggish in parts of Tiruverumbur constituency in the morning. However, polling gathered pace gradually as the day wore on. Commencement of polling was delayed at a few booths due to malfunctioning electronic voting machines, which were quickly replaced. Complaints of voters not receiving booth slips also abounded.
In most of the constituencies in the region, more than 25% of the voters had cast their votes by 11 a.m. and the polling percentage crossed 40% by 1 p.m. despite the soaring temperature. By 3 p.m., the voter-turn out in many of the constituencies in the region crossed 55%. By 5 p.m., 71.91% polling was reported in Manachanallur and 70.63 % in Lalgudi.
A case of bogus voting was reported at a booth at Mela Kalkandarkottai in Tiruverumbur constituency. The voter, Ramesh Kumar, 34, cast a tendered vote under Section 49 P of The Conduct of Elections Rules. “Despite exercising the provision of Section 49 P, I am still disappointed as tendered votes are not factored in during normal counting,” he said.
Officials explained that the validity and scrutiny of tendered ballots came into question only when the losing candidate had sufficient reason to believe that the tendered ballots could materially alter the result of that particular election.
At Devarayaneri, a locality where families of Narikurava community resided, the voter turnout was less than 5 % after three hours. Later in the day, a section of voters created a commotion in front of the booth saying they had not received the money promised to them by supporters of contesting candidates. They dispersed after persuation by officials.
The printer of a VVPAT machine at the booth at Valadi became dysfunctional and the polling process was disrupted for a while until the device was rectified.
