While most of the voters in the assembly segments of north Chennai were busy exercising their franchise to elect an MP, in Perambur people were voting to elect their candidate for the Assembly too. Vetrivel, who represented Perambur, was disqualified. Hence the bypoll.
But bypoll or Lok Sabha poll, the voters had a tough time in casting their votes in north Chennai.
Several residents had to wait for hours to cast their votes owing to malfunctioning of EVMs. In polling booths at Government Adi Dravida Welfare Girls Higher Secondary School, Kannigapuram, voters had to wait for over two hours as EVMs stopped working in the morning. S.Janet, a resident of Venkatesapuram, said, “I started feeling dizzy standing in the queue. There was no place to sit. Some of them even returned without voting. They said VVPAT machines stopped working as it got overheated.”
Protests erupted in some places like Basin Bridge where residents of Royapuram could not vote. They came to complain in Corporation zonal office. Many streets were not provided with booth slips, said Sargunam, a former councillor.
. In some polling booths at Sastry Nagar, Tondiarpet, Scouts and Guides students helped the elderly and the disabled voters.
Some polling booths in MKB Nagar turned chaotic as voters rushed in large numbers after 4 p.m. to cast their votes.
