THENI
Repolling held in two polling stations in Andipatti and Periyakulam Assembly constituencies here was incident-free and ended on a peaceful note, said Returning Officer and District Election Officer M Pallavi Baldev on Sunday.
After the Election Commission of India directed repoll in the two stations, the officials had conducted it today.
The reason attributed to the repoll was that the poll staff in the two stations had not preset the EVMs after conducting trial voting on April 18. Hence, the votes polled and the votes recorded didn't tally, which had necessitated the repoll, they added.
Amidst tight security, voters had lined up in long queue at the Sankaranarayanan Middle School, Vadugapatti polling booth in Periyakulam Assembly constituency wherein out of a total of 1,405 voters, including 702 male and 703 women, 898 cast their votes. There was a small glitch in the machine, which delayed the commencement by 15 minutes. Otherwise, the polling went on peacefully.
In Kammavar Saraswathi Middle School, Balasamudram station, in Andipatti Assembly constituency out of a total of 1,255 voters, including 644 male and 611 female, 1,001 electorate cast their votes.
According to officials, the booth in Andipatti Assembly constituency recorded 79.76% and the one in Periyakulam Assembly seat registered 63.91% votes.
The Returning Officer, accompanied by poll officers supervised the arrangements at the two stations. Amidst dry spell and hot weather, the voters turned up in large numbers and the booths witnessed brisk voting till 3 p.m.
Police and para-military personnel ensured that there was no untoward incident. At the close of the polling, the EVMs and the VVPATs were sealed and despatched to the counting centre, the officials added.