LSG polls: repoll ordered in 114 booths

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Election Commission ordered repoll in 105 polling booths in Malappuram district and nine in Thrissur district following malfunctioning of a large number of electronic voting machines in the second and final phase of elections to the local self governments in Kerala today. The repoll will take place on Friday.

The polling has been hit by heavy rain and problems with the voting machines. Yet, the overall polling percentage came to 76.86 per cent. The highese polling percentage was in Ernakulam district (79.9%) and the lowest in Thirssur district (70.2%).

Initially, as many as 270 voting machines deployed in Malappuram district and more than 50 in Thrissur district had developed snags. Though manufacturers of the machines suggested external hand in the malfunctioning of the machines to State Election Commission, the Thrissur Collector has ruled out sabotage. Replacements of machines did not help in some places. The defective machines were showing an error (Press Error) when the voter pressed a button to cast his vote.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy called for repolling in booths where polling had been disrupted for more than three hours today.  A police enquiry into the malfunctioning of large number of machines is also likely if the Commission asks for it. The Commission has expressed displeasure over handling fo the situation by Malappuram Collector.

Rains affected polling in many areas of Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. The polling, which began at 7 am, was to be concluded at 5 pm. However, balloting continued for an hour or two to accommodate those who had turned up for voting but could not vote in time on account of problems with the machines and delays.

As per the revised figures released by the Commission, the polling percentage in the first phase was 77.83. The highest polling was in Wayanad district (82.18%) and lowest in Thiruvananthapuram district (72.40%)

(updated)