Voting interrupted due to snags in EVMs

LUCKNOW: Polling was interrupted in several booths on Sunday due to technical glitches in electronic voting machines (EVM) which were replaced after some time.

“We are standing here since 7:30am, but officials say the EVMs are out of order and it will take another few minutes to replace them,” said Suresh Kumar, standing in a queue at Prathmik Vidhyalaya Barauli, Khalilabad, in ward 14 near Nagram Nilmatha Road of Lucknow.

Polling was also interrupted in Ibrahimpur ward-1, booth number 284 and 285 of Sarojini Nagar ward number 14, Indira Nagar ward 86 in New Way convent polling centre, Indira Nagar sector 18 Community Hall and at Rani Lakshmi Bai School due to technical snags in EVMs.

Faulty EVMs were reported in the first phase of the polls on November 22 in Meerut and Kanpur. Voters had complained that the EVMs were recording votes only for the BJP irrespective of the button pressed, prompting parties to raise the issue.

BSP mayor candidate Bulbul Godiyal had on Friday filed a petition in the Lucknow bench of Allahabad HC, demanding fair civic polls.

“I have demanded use of voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) along with the EVMs to ensure fair elections. This will also ensure transparency in the civic polls,” said Godiyal.

“The petition will come up for hearing on Monday.By then, the second phase (Nov 26) will be over. But my petition will be helpful for the third phase,” she said . AAP had also attacked the Centre over EVM tampering, and demanded a probe into the matter by an independent agency.