The Hindu

• EVM at the booth failed on Friday
• Two voters, who signed the register, refused to vote

Mangalore, May 19: Repolling in booth number 159 in Illanthila village under Belthangady Assembly constituency on Sunday was peaceful with 752 of the 1,000 voters turning up to exercise their franchise. Two of the voters, who signed the register, refused to cast their vote and walked away, election officials said.

The Election Commission had ordered a repoll after an electronic voting machine (EVM) failed on the polling day on Friday.

Belthangady Tahsildar Chandramma said that 365 men and 385 women cast their votes. Stating that the polling held at Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School at Bannangala in Illanthila village in the taluk was peaceful, Ms. Chandramma said the names of two voters who refused to cast their vote was registered. She said they did not invoke relevant provisions of the law to opt for None of the Above (NOTA).

The District Social Welfare Officer P.A. Ganapathy, who is the returning officer for the constituency said a new set of polling officers, including the presiding officer were deployed for Sunday’s polling process. Mr. Ganapathy, stating that he was not allowed to reveal the identity of the voters who refused to vote, however said they included a man and woman. “They did not use NOTA choice,” he reiterated.

Revised

The District Electoral Officer and Deputy Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao said the voting percentage in the district would change after Sunday’s repolling. Stating that 9,74,288 or 73.08 per cent of total 13.33 lakh voters had exercised their franchise, Mr. Rao said 710 voters had cast their votes in booth number 159 on Friday.