CHENNAI: The municipal council elections in Saligramam and Kodambakkam areas began on a wrong note as faulty Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) delayed the polls by 90 minutes on Monday.Technical glitches in EVMs in Ward Number 129 left the voters harried and election observers puzzled. Officials were on their toes, looking for options to rectify the problem.“The voting machines were not checked properly before the polling began. Had they done proper checks, such issues would have never cropped up during the polling process,” a polling official in ward number 129 told Express. The problem began when the EVMs started to show polled votes as invalid. Interestingly, the officials had changed four voting machines at a booth in the Kaveri Matriculation School in Saligramam.Help arrived at 8.45 am when officials rushed in with new EVMs. But by then, many voters had lost their patience and left without casting votes.“I am diabetic and have been waiting here without having my breakfast,” said Rajagopal (62). The former commissioner of provident fund blamed the State Election Commission for not doing their duty properly. A retired bank from the Indian Overseas Bank employee, Bala, said the electoral process lacked planning.Similarly, voting in ward number 134 was also delayed for more than 90 minutes due to faulty voting machines.
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