Second phase of polling is underway for the 17th Lok Sabha elections and Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and Voter-verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) glitches are already being reported from a number of polling booths across the country.
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Reports of delayed polling emerged from Assam’s Silchar owing to VVPAT malfunctioned at the polling station.
In Uttar Pradesh, EVMs are not functioning at Mathura, leaving voters irked. Reports suggest that some voters have returned without voting.
In Odisha, in the Raiganj and Bolangir parliamentary constituencies, faulty EVMs caused delays.
EVM malfunctioning has also caused delays in Maniyakarapalayam government high school in Coimbatore.
Beed District Magistrate Astik Kumar Pandey in Maharashtra, 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 per cent was recorded in phase one of elections in eighteen states and two Union Territories held on April 11.