Bhubaneswar/Angul: Following the trend of phase-I and phase-II polls in Odisha, technical glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) delayed commencement of voting in several booths across the State.
The Vidhan Sabha EVM at booth no-5 in Nagira panchayat of Pallahara malfunctioned thus delaying the voting process. Similar problems were reported from booth no 26 and 29 in Angul seat and booth no 24 of Chhendipada seat. Voting was delayed by 30 minutes at these booths.
Voters were seen in anguish in booth no 232 at Hindol and Municipality’s booth no 193 and 194 in Dhenkanal. EVM glitches were reported from booth no 37 at Karanjia, booth no 212, 213 and 45 in Keonjhar, booth no 34 and 36 at Begunia, booth no 173, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183 at Jatni, booth no 281 at Anandapur, booth no 90 at Sarala, booth no 221, 243, 255 of Keonjhar Municipality.
Reports also stated that voting was delayed at booth no-243 of Bhubaneswar North and booth no 112 in Bhubaneswar-Ekamra constituency. Technical problems also developed at booth no 32 and 70 in Bhubaneswar-Central, booth no 96 and 109 in Banki and booth no 128 and 130 in Ranpur, Nayagarh.
Similarly, EVM malfunction was seen in booth no 5 at Balipatpur in Puri, booth no 179 at Rajabagicha, booth no 169 at Badambadi New Colony in Cuttack, booth 30 in Choudwar and booth no 122 at Katarapali in Sambalpur. Voting was also delayed at polling booths no- 113 and 115 in Sakhigopinathpur due to technical difficulties in EVM.
Problems were also reported from booth no 146 at Gadadhar School in Puri, booth no 148 at Puri Sadar, booth no 5 at Balipatpur in Brahmagiri, booth no 258 at Chaneswar Dev School in Pipili, booth no 179 at Rajabagicha, booth no 169 Badambadi, booth no 145, 101, 135, 138 in Kuchinda.
The delay killed the spirit of many enthusiastic first time voters and several senior citizens were also kept waiting. The polling booth officials immediately began the repair work in all the booths and assured that the voting process would start soon.
Polling started in 6 Lok Sabha (Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, Keonjhar and Dhenkanal) and 42 Assembly seats of Odisha from 7 am onwards. It is expected to gain momentum with progress of the day and will continue till 6 pm.
