MARGAO
Elsewhere, voters cried foul over the decision of the Returning officers to earmark only one ballot box for two wards, resulting in serpentine queue of voters and triggering resentment amongst the voters and candidates at Varca and Davorlim.
At Manora-Raia, women voters are believed to have traded blows and used foul and abusive language against each other over a trivial matter when a voter reportedly jumped the queue, inviting objections from others standing in a queue. The incident occurred right inside the polling booth, even as the Presiding Officer tried to attribute the incident to a petty matter. The police is believed to have made its presence felt at the booth after the incident.
When the media asked the sector magistrate to shed light on the incident, he said that additional manpower has been sent to the booth.
At Varca, candidates as well as the voters questioned the rational of the Returning Officer in having a single polling booth for two wards. Candidate Alario told the media outside the booth that the decision to have one booth for two wards has put the voters to great hardships. Returning officer, Manoj Korgaonkar, however, said that additional staff was sent to the Varca booth to clear the queue. “There was some misunderstanding that votes cast will not be counted properly. Let me assure that the election staff will first sort out the votes from the two wards before taking up counting,” Korgaonkar said.
Voters from Davorlim having a booth at the Rosary chapel also cried foul over the slow pace of voting. The slow pace of polling at the government primary school at the Rosary school complex, Navelim also left the voters agitated, as they questioned the delay in the entire polling process.
When The Goan drew attention of the Returning officer to the serpentine queues outside many a polling booth in his jurisdiction, he said that voters who turn up at the polling booth before 5 pm will all be allowed to cast their vote.
