“It took me about an hour and a half to cast my vote” at a city booth as the VVPAT machine was not properly set initially, said Clint Paul, a young techie at Infopark, sharing his experience on Tuesday.
Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, could not cast his vote on Tuesday as the voting machine at St. Mary’s LP School on Market Road in the city developed trouble.
The complaints of Mr. Paul and others were those that arose after both Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines and electronic voting machines developed trouble. But by and large, the machines worked well without causing much delay even as the election authority allowed voters who were in queue at the close of voting at 6 p.m. to complete the voting process. District Collector and Chief Election Officer K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla said he rated the deployment of machines a success. There were some defects, which were rectified as quickly as possible. “It is for the first time that we are deploying VVPAT machines in such large numbers and considering that they were new to officials as well as voters, the work was carried out very well,” he added. He also said that the rise in voting percentage too was an indication of the success of election work as a whole.
None of the complaints officially notified by the election authority in the district caused considerable delay or caused difficulty for officials. An official said no extension of time was allowed on Tuesday, but all those who were in queue at 6 p.m. were allowed to cast their vote as a normal process.
A major complaint came up at the booth at Sree Narayana Hall at Manjummel, Kalamssery, where the voting machine developed trouble, and voting was disrupted for an hour and a half. There was also a demand that the time of voting be extended.
VVPAT machine troubles were reported at the Ooramana Government Higher Secondary School, Vyttila Rice Research Station booth, and St. Antony’s LP School, Angamaly. The control unit of the voting machine at St. Joseph’s English Medium School, Kadvanthara, developed troubles earlier in the day.
