The Election Commission of India on Friday announced that repolling will be conducted in four booths in the state of Kerala from where it was confirmed that bogus votes were cast on April 23 for the Lok Sabha elections. The four polling booths, which includes three booths from Kasaragod and one booth from Kannur will go for repolling on May 19 from 7 am to 6 pm.

The four include booth number 19 of Pilathara in Kalliasseri, booth number 69 of Puthiyangadi Jamath High School (North block) and booth number 70 of the Jamath High School (South block). These three blocks are located in Kasaragod district. The fourth one is booth number 166 of Mappila AUPS at Thalliparambu in Kannur district.

The polling which took place in these four booths on the official polling day on April 23 has been cancelled by the Election Commission. The decision to cancel the polls on April 23 and to go in for re polling was taken by the ECI after careful assessment and analysis of the reports and evidence submitted by the Chief Electoral Officer, the General Observer and the returning officers of the said polling booths.

According to reports, the Congress and the BJP have welcomed the decision of the Election Commission. It was found that some of the bogus votes were cast by members of the CPI(M) cadre. Some of the initial visuals of bogus voting were released by members of the Congress party which showed three women casting bogus votes. Among the three women, one of them was a Panchayat member of the CPI(M) and the other was a former panchayat member of the party.