The office of the Chief Electoral Officer has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Mandya district, who is also the District Electoral Officer, to cancel the vote cast by a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan on the grounds of violating secrecy of voting during the Lok Sabha elections.
The jawan, identified as R. Nayak, had posted photos of the postal ballot paper on social media after marking his vote. He had cast his vote in favour of an Independent candidate. The act of violating secrecy of vote was widely circulated on social media.
After examining the incident, the Deputy Commissioner had approached the Election Commission (EC) seeking directions on how to proceed in the matter.
CEO letter
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer, in a letter dated May 9, asked the Deputy Commissioner to take necessary action to cancel the vote during the counting and also to inform the counting agents regarding the decision.