Lok Sabha elections 2019: EVM, paper trail snags delay voting
At Harshani booth in Barmer, a man broke the ballot unit allegedly because he was angry over the slow pace of polling. The district election officer has lodged an FIR against the man.
When polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats began at 7am on Monday, the control rooms at the election department and at BJP and Congress headquarters in Jaipur started getting information about glitches in electronic voting machines (EVMS) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines.
VVPAT machines were used for the first time in a Lok Sabha election, said Rajasthan chief electoral officer Anand Kumar.
He said 49 ballot units and an equal number of control units were replaced after those were found dysfunctional. This is
0.14%, much lower than the standard failure rate of 1%. The CEO said 305 VVPAT machines were replaced, and this is 0.83% of the total machines. In the 2018 assembly elections, 0.3% EVMS and 1.45% VVPAT machines were replaced, the officer said.
The CEO said ballot units were damaged at two booths in Barmer and Ajmer. “We have asked district electoral officers to lodge FIRS about the incidents.”
At Harshani booth in Barmer, a man broke the ballot unit allegedly because he was angry over the slow pace of polling. The district election officer has lodged an FIR against the man.