After Kasaragod, EVM Malfunction In Pathanamthitta: Report

Local media reports complaint against Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in mock polls conducted in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta. Prior to this, voting machine irregularities were located from Kasaragod.

As per the reports, when 9 votes were recorded on the machine, 10 slips came in Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), where the additional slip belonged to BJP.

VVPAT is an independent vote verification system that facilitates an elector to see whether his/her vote was placed correctly. The VVPAT produces a paper slip that is securely stored and can be accessed in case of any dispute or discrepancies.

The incident occurred when a mock polling held in Kanjirappally on April 17. Congress workers have lodged complaint to the District Collector. The district collector informed that technical error resulted in the issue and got fixed. It has been assured by conducting mock polls, Collector stated.

Similarly, during the recent mock polls held in Kasaragod, a complaint was registered since four EVM mistakenly printed out an extra VVPAT slip where BJP’s votes were came up. The agents of CPM candidate M V Balakrishnan and Congress candidate Rajmohan Unnithan in Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency has lodged complaints regarding this matter, Onmanorama reports.

On Thursday, Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the Supreme Court that allegations of EVM showing extra vote during mock election poll in Kasaragod was false. The apex court was looking into the matter brought by the senior advocate Prashant Bhushan citing the news report on the same.

However, denying the media reports, ECI told the court: “These news reports are false. We have verified the allegations from the district collector, and it appears that they are false. We will submit a detailed report to the court,” India Today reports.