Chennai: Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar said on Monday that no re-polling would be required in any of the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
“Although minor complaints were received from a few polling booths over the malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and other discrepancies, our poll officers and election observers have studied those issues in detail and decided that re-polling will not be necessary in any of the booths,” Praveen Kumar said.
During the previous two elections held in the state, for the state assembly in 2011 and the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, re-polls were ordered in a few constituencies due to technical as well as other issues in the polls. The CEO also said each candidate was allowed to have three agents in each of the 42 counting centres with eight hour shifts.
He said that three-tier security system had been put in place in all the counting centres involving Central Police Force, Tamil Nadu Special Police battalions and local police. “A total of 540 police personnel will be manning each centre in eight hour shifts in all the 42 counting centres to ensure that no untoward incident takes placing during the counting process on May 16,” Praveen Kumar said while elaborating on the security arrangements.
The entire process would be monitored from the office of the CEO in Chennai through live camera facility. The state election commission has also announced that 2,904 FIRs have been registered against the 2,08,845 complaints registered with the commission since model code of conduct was announced on March 5, 2014.
Out of these FIRs, 262 cases have been registered for misuse of vehicles, 81 cases for illegal meetings and speeches, 90 cases for inducement or gratification of electors, 20 cases for violation of loud speaker norms, besides 436 other poll related offences.
