The Election Commission has decided to conduct a repoll in four polling booths — three in the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency and one in the Kannur Lok Sabha constituency — where bogus votes were cast in the April 23 election.
The repoll would be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May 19. District Collectors of Kasaragod and Kannur had been instructed to make the necessary arrangements, Chief Electoral Officer Teeka Ram Meena said on Thursday. The elections conducted in these booths on April 23 stand cancelled.
The booths in the Kasaragod constituency are booth no: 19 at Kalliassery, Pilathara; booth no: 69 at Jama-Ath HS North Block, Puthiyangadi; and booth no: 70 at Jama-Ath HS, South Block.
Booth no: 166 at Mappila AUPS, Taliparamba, Kannur, will also go for repoll on May 19, Mr. Meena said.
In booth no: 19 at Pilathara, three women had cast bogus votes, Mr. Meena had confirmed on April 29. On May 3, the CEO confirmed bogus voting by three more individuals in polling booths 69 and 70 in the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency. Again, on May 10, Mr. Meena announced that nine persons had cast 12 bogus votes in booth no: 166 of Mappila AUP School, Pamburuthi, in the Taliparamba Assembly segment.
In all the cases, the culprits were identified from live webcast feeds. The CEO had also instructed the Returning Officers concerned to file police cases against the individuals.
The decision to conduct re-election was taken on the basis of reports filed by the Returning Officers and the General Observers under Section 58 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, he said.
So far, in Kerala, the CEO has ordered cases to be filed against 17 persons for casting bogus votes. In all, 20 bogus votes have been cast.