As polling for the municipal elections picked up on Sunday afternoon, with about 30 per cent turnout recorded as of 2 p.m., Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal raised concerns about the reliability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
Mr. Kejriwal tweeted: “Reports from all over Delhi of EVM malfunction, people wid voter slips not allowed to vote. What is SEC doing? (sic)”
The Delhi State Election Commission, however, said it had not received any complaints of EVMs malfunctioning while polling. State Election Commissioner S.K. Srivastava told The Hindu that a total of 64 EVMs had been replaced, 58 before polls opened at 8 a.m. and six soon after.
“The EVMs that had issues were quickly changed in the morning before polling started or soon after. We have not received any complaints after that,” he said.
Responding to complaints about voters not being able to find their polling stations, Mr. Srivastava said that the SEC was running a helpline in order to assist such people. He added that voters who were calling in were being given the details of their polling stations. Since the municipal wards went through delimitation this time, many voters' polling stations and wards have changed.
