IT News
Imphal, April 30:
Re-polling for the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat has seen a substantial voter turnout of 81.16% by 5 PM, as confirmed by election officials overseeing the process. Commencing at 7 AM, the re-polling proceeded smoothly under the vigilant watch of stringent security arrangements, with no untoward incidents reported thus far.
The necessity for re-polling arose due to various issues encountered during the initial voting process on April 26. At four of the six polling stations where re-polling occurred, unidentified individuals had caused damage to Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) before the completion of voting. Additionally, one polling station experienced EVM malfunctioning, while at another, the voting process was disrupted by threats and intimidation from unknown miscreants.
As a result of these disturbances, the outcomes at four polling stations in the Ukhrul assembly segment, and one each in the Chingai assembly seat in Ukhrul and Karong in Senapati, were deemed null and void, as officially stated in a notification issued by the office of Manipur’s chief electoral officer.
Of the affected polling stations, five are located in the Ukhrul district, catering to 4,156 registered voters. This re-polling endeavor aimed to ensure the integrity and fairness of the electoral process in the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency.
Previously, during the initial polling held on April 26, 76.06% of the total 4.84 lakh eligible voters had exercised their franchise across 13 out of the 28 assembly segments constituting the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency. The remaining 15 segments, along with the entire Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat, had participated in the electoral process during the first phase conducted on April 19.
