As Tamil Nadu voted in the general election, complaints kept pouring in throughout the day about voters not being allowed to exercise their franchise because they weren’t carrying booth slips.
Despite Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo’s statements over the past few weeks that the booth slip was not necessary for people to be able to vote, in many places, polling officials turned voters away for not possessing the document. Voters in many constituencies complained that the slips did not reach them.
In Chennai, several residents of Pulianthope and Purasawalkam grew agitated and some went on to protest outside the Basinbridge Corporation Office, claiming that most of them didn’t receive the booth slips, and hence, were not allowed to vote. Uma Maheswari, a resident of Purasawalkam, said she was made to run from one booth to another as she did not have a booth slip. “Five people in my family couldn’t vote as we didn’t receive the booth slip. We are terribly disappointed,” she said. In a polling booth in Satyamurthy Nagar, Vyasarpadi, Prema Kribhakaran had to wait long hours to vote.
Several people in North Chennai struggled to cast their vote in the absence of booth slips or names in the list. A. Kevin, a resident of A.J. Colony, Royapuram, left the polling booth disappointed as he could not find his name on the list. “My entire family got booth slips. I have already voted once. I came with the hope that my name will be there. Now, I’ve been asked to check online and return to vote,” said Mr. Kevin.
Turned away
Some voters in the Sriperumbudur constituency said the slips were not distributed on time. Many voters in Tiruchi West and Tiruchi East Assembly segments complained that they had not received the booth slips and had to get them only at polling booths. However, with voters crowding to get the slips, there was considerable delay and confusion. Many had to browse through the voters list by themselves and identify their serial numbers. “We did not get the booth slips and had to go through the voter list to get the slips from the officials at the polling station. The slips were issued to voters only in some of the streets in our colony.
The EC should ensure all voters were issued the slips and their signatures obtained,” said Kuppan Chetti, a resident of Anna Nagar in Tiruchi West segment. He also complained that the name of one of his two sons went missing from the voter list. “He had voted in the previous Assembly election,” he said.
( With Bureau Inputs )
