Thiruvananthapuram: Numerous complaints of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) were reported Tuesday from across Kerala as the state voted to elect 20 Lok Sabha members.
The malfunctioning was pointed out by none other than Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who said that election officials appear to have failed to ensure that the EVMs worked properly. Vijayan had to wait longer than he expected to cast his votes.
“I myself had to wait for a while and I was told that the EVMs are not working. I am also told that this is the case in other places also,” Vijayan told the media in Kannur after he voted.
The Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala who voted in Alappuzha, also complained about faulty EVMs.
At a booth in Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, even after two hours after polling began officially, voting had not begun at one booth because the EVMs would not work.
“We came and stood in the queue at 6 a.m. so that we could vote early and go. But even now, at 9.00, voting has not started,” said one angry voter.
Thiruvananthapuram District Collector K. Vasuki rubbished reports that at a booth in Kovalam in the state capital, whenever the button for the Congress candidate was pressed, the light against the BJP symbol lit up. “This has been checked and this is not true,” said Vasuki.