Several voters on April 26 (Friday) complained that the “slow proceedings” by a few “inexperienced” officials forced them to wait in queue for long hours. There were several booths where voters had to withstand the scorching heat owing to delayed proceedings.
“My plan was to cast vote at the earliest. I had to stand in queue for over two hours as polling officials were found proceeding at a very low pace,” said a 38-year-old voter, who went to vote at a booth at Payyanakkal. He added that ailing voters had a harrowing time as they did not get any special consideration.
An assistant sub inspector, who looked into voters’ complaints in a few booths in Kozhikode, said several officers had limited practical experience in handling election work. Some were quite concerned about security issues and allowed voting after multiple levels of verifications, which should not be treated as negligence, he added.
Although the home voting option was available in advance for elderly voters above 85 years of age, there were many who cast their votes directly at the booths. A few young voters claimed that the absence of special voting counters for differently abled and senior citizens was found to be a major drawback which hit the normal pace of the queue system at several booths.
Limited number of wheelchairs also posed hurdles to differently abled voters and elderly people in some polling stations in Kozhikode city. Many had to wait in their vehicles as volunteers could not manage people simultaneously from various locations.
Meanwhile, polling officials from a few booths in Beypore, Payyanakkal and Naduvattom areas said they recorded above 10% polling in just two hours after the commencement of polling which was satisfactory in the morning hours. They added that delay occurred at some booths thanks to malfunctioning of electronic voting machines, which were promptly addressed by technical teams.
