The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday ordered repolling at 73 polling booths in Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, 49 polling stations in Maharashtra’s Bhandara-Gondia and one polling station in Nagaland, after VVPAT machines developed snags during the bypolls on Monday. The repolling will be held on Wednesday from 7 am to 6 pm.
Both the Opposition and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had alleged that the electronic voting machines at these polling booths were faulty and that could have a bearing on the free and fair outcome of the balloting.
Repolling will be held on May 30 between 7 am and 5 pm, during which 80,000 voters are likely to exercise their franchise.
Repolling will be held in 23 polling stations at Nakur, 44 in Gangoh and one at Thana Bhawan in Saharanpur and five in Shamli.
A total of 54 per cent polling was recorded on Monday in Kairana seat, which fell vacant with the death of BJP MP Hukum Singh. In 2014, 73 percent voting was recorded.
The EC has ordered the transfer of the Gondia collector for “dereliction of duty”, a top official of the poll panel said, adding that the new collector has assumed charge.
Notifications for the re-poll have been issued in lucknow, Kohima and Mumbai.
Over 11 per cent of the 10,300 voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines across 10 states had developed faults and had to be replaced yesterday.