Reports of electronic voting machines ( EVMs) glitches were reported from several constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra during  the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabhe elections leading to delays in the voting process on Monday.  The Congress made 30 complaints to the EC about alleged glitches in EVMs across the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra where polling was underway.

In Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj, polling couldn’t begin on time at booth numbers 35 and 435 of Chhibramau area due to a snag in the EVM. Also, the polling process was delayed at booth number 189 and 196 of Chhibramau after a glitch in EVM was detected. Due to EVM glitches, polling also delayed  Tirwa, Bidhuna, Niboh, Gursahayganj, Mirgaion, Naipal, Nadasia and Atara villages.Voters in the queue alleged that the not a single vote could be casted at the booth since the morning.

Meanwhile, polling was stalled in booths no 74 and 76 in Shahjahanpur. In Kanpur, polling was delayed in Govind Nagar and Arya Nagar due to EVM faults. “It hasn’t been working since the polling started at 7 am. Not even one vote has been cast here. Voting has not started because of a glitch in EVM,” one of the voters waiting in queue claimed. This was also the case in six places in Jhansi. EVMs were found to be faulty in Lalitpur, Akbarpur, Farukkhabad and Lakhimpur.

UP’s Chief Electoral Officer L. Venkateshwarlu said that the problems were sorted out at the earliest. “There were reports of EVM snags which addressed soon so that polling could resume”, he said.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MLA Arvind Kumar Singh also wrote a letter to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) highlighting EVM malfunctions at several booths in the state.

The EVM glitch has been reported from Maharashtra’s Patlipada. The machine was replaced after one hour. However, most of the voters went home after waiting for an hour. Another EVM snag was reported in Mumbai’s Panvel where an EVM stopped working at Gujarati Shala pool booth. It was replaced in an hour.

 In Suri, the headquarters of the Birbhum district in West Bengal the polling process was stalled due to a glitch in the EVM.

In Odisha, according to reports, glitches in EVMs delayed polling at 60 booths. This is the fourth and final phase of polling in Odisha. In Odisha, voting delayed at booth number 71, 183, 198, 220 in Bhandaripokhari, Dhamnagar (booth no 222, 244, 245, 54, 243), Soro (booth no 2, 46, 208,50), Simulia (booth no 119, 109, 110), Basudevpur (booth no 69,114,116), Chandbali (booth no 216, 14, 239) in Bhadrak due to EVM glitches

Voting delayed due to EVM glitches in booth no 219, 268 in Kakatpur, booth no 42, 66 of Nimapara, booth no 214 in Paradip, multiple places in Kujanga. The reports of EVM glitches also reported booth no 226 & 128 in Aul and booth no 213 in Aienda of Mahanga Kendrapara, booth no 115 of Dharmasala, booth no 110 of Bari a booth no 96 of Jajpur.

EVM machines at Maulana Azad School in Jodhpur and at the Chaupasani Housing Board in the same city were reported to be faulty early on Monday, resulting in protests by voters.  In Bihar, polling was delayed at three booths in Munger, two in Darbhanga and three in Begusarai due to glitches in EVMs.