Karnataka polls: EVM glitches delay voting in many polling booths, infuriating hundreds of voters

Bengaluru: Glitches in EVMs delaying polling left hundreds of voters fuming in Karnataka’s Assembly segments on a hot and humid Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_4356925” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Scores of balloting machines across the state were reportedly malfunctioning, leading to the voters having to wait for long hours in the queues for the machines to be fixed to cast their ballots. Glitches were reported from a few polling stations in Hebbal, Yelahanka, Bengaluru South Assembly segments in the city, and at a few booths in Chamarajanagar, Vijayapura and Ballari districts. A total of 164 polling units and 157 control units of the EVMs along with 470 Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) have malfunctioned so far, state Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told reporters in Bengaluru. EVMs comprising 94,841 balloting units and 84,830 controlling units that are connected to 86,495 VVPATs have been deployed across the state’s 58,008 polling stations in 30 districts.