EVM, VVPAT glitches reported across country as polling gets underway for second phase of 2019 Lok Sabha election

Silchar (Assam): As the second phase of polling is underway to elect members to the 17th Lok Sabha, Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and Voter-verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) glitches have been reported at a number of polling booths across the country. Polling was delayed in Assam’s Silchar owing to VVPAT malfunctioned at the polling station. “There was a minor glitch in the machine, which has been fixed. The voters may cast the vote now,” Sajad Khan, Sector Officer (SO) deployed at the polling booth, told ANI. [caption id=“attachment_6425641” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In Uttar Pradesh, EVMs are not functioning at Mathura, leaving voters irked. Reports suggest that some voters have returned without voting. Faulty EVMs have also caused delays in booth numbers 29 and 134 in Raiganj Parliamentary Constituency, as well as at booth numbers 261 and 263 of Bolangir parliamentary constituency in Odisha. Polling is yet to begin at Maniyakarapalayam government high school in Coimbatore as the voting machine has malfunctioned. In Maharashtra, Beed District Magistrate Astik Kumar Pandey said five places have reported EVM and VVPAT malfunctions since morning in Beed constituency, namely, Georai, Mazalgaon, Kej, Ashti, Parali. However, all those machines have been replaced immediately and polling is going smoothly at all locations, he added. As part of the second phase of elections, polling is being held in Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam (5), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (3), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Karnataka (14), Maharashtra (10), Manipur (1), Odisha (5), Tamil Nadu (38), Uttar Pradesh (8), West Bengal (3), and a single parliamentary seat of Puducherry. According to the Election Commission, a voter turnout of 69.43 percent was recorded in phase one of elections in eighteen states and two Union Territories held on 11 April.