Weeks after Tamil Nadu went to polls on April 18; the Election Commission (EC) has stated that repolling will take place in 13 polling stations
New Delhi: Twenty days after Tamil Nadu went to polls, the Election Commission (EC) has announced repolling in 13 polling stations of the state.
Repolling in 13 booths will be held on May 19, when the last phase of the general election will be held, alongside the Assembly by-polls.
Repolling will take place in eight polling stations in Dharmapuri, two in Theni and one each in Cuddalore, Tiruvallur and Erode.
Although the EC did not specify which polling stations these are, it is likely that the 13 include the 10 polling booths recommended for repolling by the Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo in April.
Booth officials reportedly forgot to format the machines before the actual polling began, which meant that mock votes could also have been counted.
The state EC has submitted its report on the same to the central EC in New Delhi. Sahoo stated that there were issues with 46 polling booths in the state and has hinted that repolling may take place in all of those stations.
The errors in 46 booths are in addition to the 10 booths from the state that have already been recommended by the CEO for repolling. The 10 booths include eight in Dharmapuri Parliamentary/Pappireddipatti Assembly constituency and one each from Cuddalore Parliamentary/Panruti Assembly and Tiruvallur Parliamentary/Poonamallee Assembly constituencies.
EVMs were shifted by the state EC from Coimbatore district to Theni. This sparked uproar from the opposition.
Fifty EVMs were shifted from Coimbatore to Erode and Theni, leading to speculation of repolling in these areas. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has sought an explanation.
In the letter, the DMK sought clarification from the authorities regarding the shifting of the VVPATs. They also requested the authorities to furnish the details of where the EVMs and VVPATs were shifted to.
The DMK also urged to keep the EVMs and VVPATs that were shifted to Theni and Erode in a separate ‘Strong Room’ without disturbing the ‘Strong Room’ where polled EVMs and VVPATs are kept with the permission of the agents of the poll candidates.
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