Comments
Electronic voting machines used for the first time in local body polls in Kerala have yielded mixed results for the State Election Commission.
In fact, manufacturers Electronic Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) is surprised at the widespread snags reported from these machines from the Malappuram and Thrissur district during the just-concluded three-tier polls.
IDENTICAL BATCHES
While machines of identical batches deployed in the neighbouring Kozhikode functioned without any hitch, those installed in the two other districts had sputtered after polling around 20 votes or so.
Repolling had to be ordered in more than 100 booths after these machines were found tampered with adhesives, paper rolls and match sticks.
The State Election Commission has since sought a report on the incident from the ECIL, which has described it as unusual and without parallel.
The ECIL would enlist the support of experts from the Election Commission of India for conducting a detailed probe, official sources said here.
STRICT SCRUTINY
The compromised machines are being kept under vigil and would be subjected to detailed scrutiny to unravel the mystery. Being the first time these machines were being deployed in the three-tier polls, the Election Commission had spared no efforts to check and ensure their efficacy. Multi-level checks had been conducted before installing them at the booths.
The Commission suspects that miscreants may have tampered with the machines at 'some time during their transit, installlation or testing phases,' which needs to be ascertained.
The expert probe announced by the Commission is expected to cover all aspects of the case, including and its motive. The ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition had faced internecine war between partners over the choice of candidates for the polls, particularly in Malappuram district.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.