COIMBATORE: Chaos broke out at several voting booths in many places of Coimbatore as people have been visiting the wrong polling stations on Saturday due to the change in ward numbers.
The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) recently revised the ward numbers of all the 100 wards in the 5 zones across the city. However, the officials failed to make the people aware of the new ward numbers.
Due to this, many of them were left in the dark without any idea of their new ward numbers or the polling station. In this situation, some people who visited the same polling stations in which they had cast their vote during the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly elections last year were sent back due to change in ward numbers and polling booths.
Chandrika (names changed), a voter from Subramaniyampalayam told TNIE “It has been total chaos here. We came by 7 o'clock in the morning itself to cast our votes early. But we were tossed around by the officials due to change in ward numbers. My husband, my daughter, my son and myself – all 4 of them from the same house on the same street had to go to 4 different polling stations for voting, thanks to the revised ward numbers.”
Another voter Kumaran from KNG Pudur said “As I casted my vote in the Government middle school during the State assembly elections last year, I went to same polling station this year. But the officials sent me back saying that the polling booths have been changed due to a change in the ward numbers. No proper information or awareness were made by the district administration or the Coimbatore corporation. It's chaotic at all the polling stations and total time waste for the people.”
Polling station officials and the political party representatives who had set up their camps near the voting booth helped the voters identify their polling stations with their EPIC numbers.