Re-polling in Dhupguri booth after EVM glitch

SNS, Siliguri, 18 April 2014: Re-polling will be held in a booth located in the Dhupguri Assembly constituency under the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha seat.

The officer in-charge, elections, in Jalpaiguri district, Debahuti Indra today said that the decision to go for re-polling was taken after the electronic voting machine (EVM) malfunctioned there.

“We are waiting for the notification of the Election Commission. After the notification, we would be able to say when the re-polling would be held,” Ms Indra said, adding, “The decision was taken after a technical snag in the EVM was detected at the last moment.” Sources said polling officials found out after polling was over that the EVM was in no position to show the number of votes cast.

According to the district election officials, the voters’ turnout was recorded at 84.85 per cent in the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha seat and 83.21 per cent in the Alipurduar seat. In Jalpaiguri, the total number of electors was 1525379. Of them, 1287952 votes were polled. The station in Dhupguri where the re-polling would be held has around 500 voters. In the Alipurduar LS seat, there are 1464809 electors, while 1222427 cast their votes yesterday, an official said.