Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R. S Gopalan on Tuesday dismissed reports of irregularities at polling booths during the Nuapada Assembly by-election, saying the claims were “entirely based on rumours.”
Addressing the media, Gopalan said the Election Commission had received two complaints. In the first case, a woman alleged impersonation at Booth No. 341, claiming someone had already voted in her name.
“We have not yet verified whether she or anyone else voted using her ID, and the voter herself did not raise any objection inside the booth,” he explained.
The second complaint involved Booth No. 250, where a video circulated online suggested that pressing one button on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) caused another candidate’s light to blink. Gopalan clarified that mobile phones are not allowed inside polling booths, making it unclear how the video was recorded.
He further explained the procedure under Section 49M, “If a voter believes the machine has recorded a vote incorrectly, they must immediately raise the issue with the Presiding Officer and submit a written complaint. A test vote is then conducted in the presence of all, and if irregularities are found, the Presiding Officer can face penalties. In this case, no formal complaints were filed, and polling continued smoothly.”
The CEO added that three recognised party agents were present at the booths and confirmed that the voting machines were functioning correctly.
“All statements were recorded. The reports circulating on social media were unsubstantiated,” Gopalan said.
Meanwhile, the Nuapada by-election witnessed an impressive voter turnout of 65.20% by 3 pm, up from 51.42% at 1 pm, 32.51% at 11 am, and 14.99% at 9 am.
The Election Commission said polling in Nuapada was proceeding smoothly and urged voters to ignore unverified reports on social media.
