the goan I network
MARGAO
Glitches in the electronic voting and voter verifiable paper audit trail machines not only delayed polling in many polling stations in South Goa, including Cuncolim, Nuvem, Curtorim, Navelim, Quepem, but raised doubts amongst opposition leaders over the credibility of the machines.
AAP Cuncolim candidate Elvis Gomes and Leader of the Opposition Babu Kavlekar raised serious doubts about the entire election process.
In Cuncolim, the home segment of Aam Aadmi Party candidate Elvis Gomes, polling was held up for more than two hours after a mock poll raised many a query as the votes polled against the candidates did not tally.
An enraged Elvis said that the mock polling showed that the BJP polled 17 votes when it ought to have polled only nine votes. He said this was a serious discrepancy and slammed the election authorities for not holding the election with the traditional paper ballots.
“If the BJP could poll 17 votes as against 9 and 8 votes polled by the Congress and AAP respectively, this only goes to show that a doubt has been raised about the entire election process. I feel the election is severely compromised. It may be one machine but the security of this machine is really questionable. The EC may replace the machine, but it looks like a big compromise and the scenario is dangerous for the country as a whole,” Elvis said.
He recalled that AAP had demanded polling through the ballot process, adding “what happened at the Cuncolim polling booth is a stark reality and our demand is justified. This is shameful”.
Saying that he has complained to the Election Commission on the episode, Elvis said, “The CEO has promised to look into the matter. What will they look into I do
not know. I am really disappointed.”
Leader of the Opposition Babu Kavlekar said at least two EVMs at Betul and Avadem polling booths, besides Cuncolim, developed a technical snag, as he demanded to know why only EVMs in Congress areas developed these glitches. “The election authorities need to answer the people how come these glitches came to light when the EVMs were all checked by the officials. It is clear there was a purpose behind these technical snags,” Kavlekar said.
“Was there any planning behind these glitches. But the people in power have failed in their agenda,” he said, adding “the machine manipulation may bring down the Congress margin of victory but the BJP will be routed 6-0 in these elections”.
Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa also complained that EVMs developed snags at several places, including Kirbhat, Pateapur, Belloy and Verna. “At Verna, two of my panchas were the first to cast their votes, but the voting number was already shown as 57,” Wilfred said, while demanding an inquiry.
