Melting of wax seal in counting centre causes flutter

The melting of the wax seal put on the doors of the one of the strong rooms in Periyar Government Arts College here, in which the Electronic Voting Machines have been kept in safe custody, caused a flutter on Monday. The particular strong room, situated on the second floor of the college, is said to have contained the EVMs collected from the Vriddhachalam and Thittakudi Assembly segments.

The college is serving as the strong room and the counting centre for the votes polled in the Chidambaram parliamentary constituency.

Collector R. Kirlosh Kumar, who is also the Returning Officer, told

The Hindu that the Central Industrial Security Force personnel brought it to his notice that the wax seal put on the strong room had melted a bit.

Soon after getting the information the Collector called up all the candidates and their agents to inspect the seal. After inspecting the seal all of them stated that the wax on the edge of seal showed signs of melting.

Only less than 5 per cent of the seal had any indication of melting. It could have been even a driblet of wax that might have slipped while putting the seal. Therefore, all the candidates and their agents unanimously expressed the opinion that “let the seal remain as it is.”

The Collector said that since there were no complaints from the candidates there was no need for putting another seal or affixing one more layer of the wax seal. He further said that the entire college building had been brought under round-the-clock surveillance ever since the EVMs were deposited there soon after the polling completed on April 24.

The armed security personnel and closed circuit television cameras are constantly monitoring the centre. It is felt that since the day time temperature in Cuddalore has been hovering in the region of 35 degree Celsius to 37 degree Celsius, and with high humidity, there is a possibility of the wax slightly loosening its texture.