Faulty machines affect polling in 107 Delhi booths

Polling for Delhi's civic elections faced a roadblock due to technical snags in electronic voting machines in 107 booths.

Polling in Delhi's civic elections was affected in 107 booths on Thursday after electronic voting machines (EVMs) developed technical snags.

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A state election commission official said the affected booths were in 10 wards in Rohini, Jamia Nagar and Daryaganj.

"Over 200 technicians are working to solve the problem and we have already dispatched new machines wherever necessary," the official said.

Around 10,200 EVMs are being used at 9,949 booths for polls to elect a new Municipal Corporation of Delhi. It is the first time the machines are being used in the civic elections.

In Rohini Sector 9, polling had not started till 9.30 a.m. due to the EVM snag. Of the 16 booths at Jamia Milia University, polling was affected in 10 booths due to a similar problem.

"I reached the booth just after 8 a.m. but the voting machine was not working. I have been waiting for over an hour to vote," said a student standing outside a booth in Rohini Sec 9.

Polling is being held in 272 wards of the MCD with 2,575 candidates in the fray. Over nine million people are eligible to vote.