Plus Ultra poll vault Past the grave

On election day, 70-year-old Maruthappan of Sinthamani Nagar, Kovilpatti, had a shocking surprise when his name was discovered to have been removed from the voter list due to his passing. When he went to the election officials at the Puthugramam polling station to cast his ballot, they noticed the disparity.

After getting his fingerprints, the authorities then gave him permission to use his franchise.

An instance of misidentification

The rumor that AIADMK leader and former Tiruppur South MLA S Gunasekaran had staged a dharna inside a polling place in Tiruppur city since it was alleged that someone else had cast his ballot went viral. Soon after, the former MLA attacked the ECI in a news conference. Gunasekaran seemed a little perplexed when a reporter asked him to provide his voter ID for the cameras. Why, he questioned, “my voter ID”? “Your vote was cast by someone else; we would like more information,” the reporter retorted. “It was not my vote,” the head of the AIADMK said, seeming astonished. “Someone else cast his vote, and it was his,” the young man said, gesturing to a child who was the son of an AIADMK official. The reporters were so shocked that they withdrew their microphones and walked away.

Voting stutters at first

The voting machine at room 175 of the Adi Dravidar Welfare Government Higher Secondary School in Karai, Ranipet, failed to register the first vote cast by District Collector S Valarmathi, notwithstanding the EVM mock exercise that was held earlier on Friday. The VVPAT threw an error. Soon later, booth staff discovered a wiring problem and quickly fixed the EVM. The collector cast her ballot in room 175 after making sure the other voting machines at the polling place were operating properly.