Polling in Chennai Central Parliamentary Constituency started on a brisk note and gradually recorded a dip by the evening. By 11 a.m., the turnout was 21.81% but reduced in many booths in the evening. Officials said major violations were not reported in vulnerable polling stations in the constituency.
Many electors said they were unable to cast their votes because of deletion of names on the rolls. Zakir Hussain of Dr. Besant Road said the names of two members of his family were not on the rolls. "My mother and wife were not able to vote," said Mr.Hussain.
In areas such as George Town, the turnout in many vulnerable polling booths was also poor. Groups of electors were found returning from booths without casting votes.
Malfunctioning of EVM in a few of the booths in the constituency was detected before polls began. Five control units, 16 ballot units and 22 VVPATs were replaced before the commencement of polls. No complaint was registered after polling started.
Webcasting was done in the constituency with support from a troubleshooting team of 536 operators in the 1309 polling stations. Officials said incidents were not reported in 162 vulnerable polling booths in the constituency. Chennai District Election Officer and Corporation Commissioner G. Prakash said: “The election was incident free. There was no law and order problem.”
