Erode (East) bypoll | Use of five ballot units at each booth delayed polling, voters say more booths were needed

The use of five ballot units each was necessary, as there are 77 candidates in the fray for the bypoll; officials said voters took time to identify the candidate they wanted to vote for, delaying the process

The use of five ballot units at each of the 238 polling stations, led to voters taking a long time to exercise their franchise, and delaying the poll process in the Erode (East) Assembly constituency bypoll on Monday.

Voters in many booths complained that polling was slow as they had to wait for one to two hours to vote. At the polling booth at Kamaraj Higher Secondary School at Karungalpalayam, over 20 voters staged a road roko condemning the delay in voting and also the absence of drinking water. Women voters in another booth also entered into an altercation with officials over the delay in voting.

A total of 77 candidates are in the fray. Each ballot unit has the provision to vote for 16 candidates while the ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA) option is the the 78 th in the fifth ballot unit. Hence, the use of five ballot units was necessitated at all the polling stations. Also, 62 polling booths had over 1,200 voters each, which delayed voting.

Election officials told The Hindu that voters of all ages took time in identifying the candidate they wanted to vote for, from the five ballot units, and so, the delay could not be avoided.

Many voters however, pointed out that additional booths could have been established so that their waiting time was reduced.