COIMBATORE/ERODE/NILGIRIS : The voting for the Lok Sabha election was by and large peaceful in the Coimbatore region, barring a few snags reported in some polling stations.
Coimbatore district collector Kranthi Kumar Pati told reporters that there were delays in a few polling stations and that they were rectified by engineers. Though wheelchairs were placed at the entrance of polling stations for the elderly and PwDs, people could not use them as assistants were not available.
Speaking to reporters, Erode Returning Officer Raja Gopal Sunkara said, “In all 3,376 ballot units, 1688 control units, 1688 VVPAT’s were used for polling at the 1,688 polling stations in the constituency. Of these, 3. 18 (0.53 %) Ballot Units, 17 (1.01 %) Control Units, 26 (1.54 %) VVPATs were found malfunctioning during the mock poll in the morning and were replaced.”
“Further, 4 (0.12 %) ballot units, 2 (0.12 %) control units, 13 (0.77 %) VVPAT’s failed during actual polling. They were only minor issues. Those machines were replaced. After that polling went smoothly.” he added.
Polling was delayed by at least an hour in 10 polling stations in the Nilgiris district as the EVMs malfunctioned. Polling resumed around 8.20 am after the EVMs were replaced, sources said.