MP records 75 per cent polling amidst technical glitches

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, his wife Sadhna Singh and sons show their marked fingers after casting their votes

Altogether 75 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections on Wednesday. In the 2013 Assembly elections, 72.13 per cent turnout was recorded, an election official said. Complaints of faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVVPAT) machines marred the polling on Wednesday.

Poll officials said 1,145 EVMs and 1,545 VVPATs were replaced after complaints of technical snags. Polling was held between 8 am and 5 pm in 227 seats, while in three Assembly segments - Lanji, Paraswada and Baihar - in Maoist-affected Balaghat district, the voting time was between 7 am to 3 pm, state Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao said.

About 2.5 per cent (polling) machines were replaced, Rao said, adding this percentage was around two per cent in other states where elections were held recently. Three employees died due to "health reasons" while performing poll duty in Dhar, Indore and Guna districts, he said.

Asked about reports that some EVMs were found in a hotel, Rao said, "We have got the information that a sector official in Shujalpur was staying in a hotel along with ballot machines.

On getting information, the officials reached the hotel and seized the machine. The official concerned was removed (from poll duty) and the polling team was sent along with a new sector officer."

75% of Mizoram votes
Around 75 per cent votes were cast in the Mizoram Assembly polls on Wednesday but the figure is expected to rise, as there were long queues of voters outside polling booths to exercise their franchise, Chief Electoral Officer Ashish Kundra said. Polling was held in all the 40 Assembly seats.

227
No. of seats for which polling took place in MP

1,145
No. of EVMs that were replaced

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever