Numerous complaints of malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) were reported from across Kerala on Tuesday, with the state voting to elect 20 Lok Sabha members in phase 3 of the elections.

There were reports that at a booth in Kovalam in the state capital, whenever the button for the Congress candidate was pressed, the light against the BJP’s lotus symbol lit up. This was, however, dismissed by both the District Collector and the Chief Election Officer.

“There is false news spreading that at Booth 151 in Kovalam, every vote is being cast for lotus. Every media is carrying similar (reports) to the one that happened in AP. We double checked and no such thing is happening,” Teeka Ram Meena, the CEO said.

Thiruvananthapuram District Collector K Vasuki clarified that such glitches in the EVM are “technically and technologically impossible”.

“After 76 votes, the ballot unit in this polling booth jammed when the 77th vote was being cast. This is a minor error in the machine. According to the procedure, as directed by the Election Commission, such faulty machines should be removed. When the issue was reported, we replaced the faulty EVM with a new one. The polling in this booth has not discontinued; it has resumed,” she said.

The issue of malfunctioning EVMs was pointed out by none other than Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who said that election officials appear to have failed to ensure that the EVMs worked properly.

“There have always been complaints about EVM glitches. The Election Commission should have ensured the machines did not have any faults. The machine in my booth and neighbouring booths had some glitches. So, imagine the EVMs in other parts of Kerala. The Election Commission did not take the issue seriously,” Pinarayi Vijayan hit out after voting in Kannur.

The Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, who voted in Alappuzha, also complained about faulty EVMs.

At a booth in Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, two hours after polling began officially, voting had not begun at one booth because the EVMs were not working.

"We came and stood in the queue at 6 am so that we could vote early and go. But even now, at 9, voting has not commenced," said one angry voter.

With IANS inputs