Technical glitches delay voting in Gurugram; EVMs replaced in 8 locations

Officials said 23.7% voter turnout was recorded in Gurugram Parliamentary constituency till 11am and 30% in Nuh

At least eight electronic voting machines (EVMs) were replaced due to technical glitches in different polling booths in Gurugram, causing a delay in voting by an hour at the affected locations during the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Saturday morning, said officials.

A woman shows her finger marked with indelible ink after casting vote at a polling station during the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections in Gurugram on Saturday. (PTI)

Officials said 23.7% voter turnout was recorded in Gurugram Parliamentary constituency till 11am and 30% in Nuh.

Deputy commissioner (DC) Nishant Kumar Yadav said that he personally visited the booths and checked the arrangements. “There were issues, and the machines were not working properly and as soon as we received alert, we replaced them. It caused a delay, but the voting process was reported smooth,” he said.

Yadav said at a few places there were long queues and officials were deployed to manage the situation and to ensure the process is smooth and comfortable for the voters.

Many residents alleged that they had to return without casting their vote due to the non-functioning of the EVMs in Sector 69, Suncity Township, Sector 50, Sector 56 and Sector 48. “I returned home after waiting for two hours at booth 199 in Sector 14. I had reached there at 7am and left at 10.15am. It was difficult to stand in long queue waiting for my turn to come,” said Amrit Singh, a resident of Sector 14.

Another resident, Dhirendra Kumar Singh, said that the polling booth at Naurangpur village in Sector 79 was poorly managed. “More than 100 people were standing in each line and it took more than three hours for one individual. I returned without voting and will try again after 3pm,” he said.

The DC said since morning they have provided pick and drop facility to 300 senior citizens and people with disabilities.

The residents started reaching polling booths by 7am and the condominiums witnessed a good response.

According to the district administration, Gurugram has 16 polling stations for 18,185 voters, Badshahpur has 35 stations for 37,905 voters and Sohna has one station for 1,451 voters.

Condominiums and plotted societies where polling stations have been set up include Heritage City, Vipul Greens, Sare Homes, Sahara Grace, Valley View Apartments, Essel Towers, Vatika City, Sushant Estate, Kendriya Vihar and Jalvayu Towers, among others, which are located along the Golf Course Road, Sohna Road, MG Road, Southern Peripheral Road and Dwarka Expressway.