Ink issues and faulty EVMs cause chaos at start of local body elections in Thiruvanthapuram
THIRUVANTHAPURAM: The first phase of local body elections began on Monday amidst crises and uncertainties across the capital district. In a critical incident, election ink applied to voters forefingers at the Sasthamangalam ward of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation faded within minutes. Sources from Booth 2 of the Raja Kesavadas NSS Higher Secondary School polling station reported that the ink was diluted, causing it to disappear quickly. In the same ward, a female voter was not permitted to vote due to discrepancies in the electoral roll. Vasantha Gokulam (84), whose name appeared as Vasantha Gokul with incorrect age and photograph, was denied voting at Booth 3. This appears to be a deliberately created issue, as similar problems occurred in the last local body elections. No major parties checked this while distributing the election slip, which raises doubts, said Resmi TS, the AAP candidate for the ward. Discussions to allow her vote are currently ongoing. Meanwhile, the voting machine at Booth 2 of Karavaram Panchayat Ward 20 was found to be non-functional. At least 50 voters left after discovering the EVM was damaged, sources said, adding that polling officials had assured a replacement would be provided soon. Voting for the first phase in seven districts of the state began at 7 am, with electors choosing representatives for three-tier panchayats in rural areas and municipalities and corporations in urban areas. Voters queued at polling stations as early as 6.30 am. Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi and the states Leader of the Opposition, VD Satheesan, were among the prominent voters who cast their ballots in the first hour. The first phase covers Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, and Ernakulam districts. A total of 11,167 wards across 595 local bodies are going to polls, including 8,310 wards in 471 grama panchayats, 1,090 wards in 75 block panchayats, 164 divisions in seven district panchayats, 1,317 wards in 39 municipalities, and 232 wards in three corporations. As many as 1.32 crore voters, including 62.50 lakh men, 70.32 lakh women, and 126 transgender persons, are listed to vote in this phase. A total of 36,629 candidates are contesting in the seven districts. Voting is taking place across 15,422 polling stations, 480 of which have been designated as sensitive.
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