EVM Errors in Pune Civic Polls; Officials Say Machines Replaced Swiftly

Pune: Sporadic glitches in EVMs were reported during the initial phase of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) polls on Thursday morning, but election officials said replacement machines were promptly installed as per procedure.

NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar in a post on X said some incidents of EVMs shutting down were reported at the start of polling in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations.

He also alleged that some machines showed a time lag of up to 15 minutes.

The PMC comprises 165 seats across 41 wards.

"In some places, light was blinking after casting a vote for the third candidate, while in some cases, despite casting all four votes, the mandatory light was not blinking. All these things are suspicious. The State Election Commission should give a clarification and ensure that the chaos regarding EVMs is cleared so that voting is conducted in a free and fair manner," Pawar said.

PMC's additional commissioner and poll in-charge Omprakash Divte said that 15 to 20 EVMs developed errors soon after the polling began.

"However, substitute machines kept with sectoral election officers were immediately deployed and polling continued in those wards without any glitch," he said.

Divte also said he had not received any complaint regarding indelible ink being wiped off using chemicals.

An average 23 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 1.30 pm in the PMC polls.

Elaborate arrangements have been made for polling in the Pune and neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations.