Lok Sabha polls: Thiruvananthapuram Collector denies errors during mock polling in Kerala’s capital district

Kerala: Thiruvananthapuram District Collector denies reports of extra votes for BJP in mock poll, lodges complaint against online media platform

Thiruvananthapuram District Collector Geromic George on April 19 (Friday) denied reports that extra votes were polled for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during a mock poll held in connection with the commissioning of electronic voting machines (EVM) in Kerala’s capital district.

Mr. George has lodged a complaint with Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Sanjay Kaul against an online media platform which allegedly published a report saying that the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips had displayed extra votes for the BJP in the mock poll.

No such incident was reported anywhere in the district, the Collector, who is also the District Election Officer, said.

The commissioning of EVMs, which began on April 15, was completed by 2.30 p.m. on April 18 (Thursday) in the district which has two Lok Sabha constituencies – Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal. Ballot papers displaying photos and symbols of the candidates were loaded in ballot units in the presence of representatives of political parties. But no complaint regarding such an error was filed anywhere in the district, Mr. George said.

Complaints that extra votes had been polled for the BJP during mock polling in Kasaragod constituency had grabbed headlines on April 18. The Election Commission and the Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) had dismissed them as unfounded.