CUDDALORE:
The re-poll held on Saturday at two booths in Samattikuppam, falling under the Neyveli Assembly constituency, went off peacefully, recording an average of 83.56 per cent polling.
The re-poll was conducted under the direct supervision of Additional Chief Electoral Officer D.Raajendiran, District Electoral Officer P.Seetharaman, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Pon.Manickavel and Superintendent of Police Ashwin Kotnis.Mr. Seetharaman told The Hindu that 810 of 961 voters cast their votes in booth number 55 (84.28 per cent polling) and 942 of 1,137 voters exercised their franchise in booth number 56 (82.84 per cent polling).
On April 13, the polling trend was as follows: 854 voters polled in booth no.55 (89 per cent) and 1,006 in booth no.56 (88 per cent). The re-poll was ordered because miscreants forced their entry into the booths after polling hours, located on the Panchayat Middle School compound, snatched the electronic voting machines from the officials and broke them into pieces. Mr. Raajendiran told this correspondent that because of the law and order problem created at these booths on April 13, the re-poll was conducted on Saturday. He termed it an unexpected development (because it occurred at the end of the polling that otherwise went off peacefully during the day).
The Additional CEO further said that compared to April 13 only 108 voters did not turn up for the re-poll. Soon after the commencement of the polling, Mr Raajendiran himself verified the booth slips in possession of the voters standing in the queue. He was seen in discussions with Mr. Seetharam and Mr. Kotnis during the course of the polling. The entire school premises had been brought under the security cordon of the weapon-wielding Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the whole of the campus was barricaded, making provision for separate queues for men and women voters.
The RPF personnel themselves checked the booth slips before allowing the voters inside the campus. Inside the polling booths, the voters were dealt with in a systematic manner, such as making entries, allowing them to vote, and then asking them to spell out their names in front of the web-camera fitted laptops. At least four checkpoints, at a distance of 200 metres, had been put up on the road from the entry point of the village to the booths. The vehicles entering the village were thoroughly checked with a view to keep away outsiders.
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