Re-polling in Kalanuthala on May 6

Ongole: Prakasam District Collector Vadarevu Vinay Chand announced on Thursday that the Election Commission (EC) has ordered a fresh poll in the polling booth number 247 at the MPP High School in Kalanuthala village of Yerragondapalem assembly constituency on May 6.

He said that while the assembly and general elections were held on April 11, there were about 60 voters still waiting outside the polling booth even after the midnight, but the EVM has been automatically gone into sleep mode at 12 am.

He said that the presiding officer has tried to contact the sector officer to arrange the second EVM for the remaining voters, but failed due to non-availability of mobile network. As the incident was reported to the authorities, the EC has ordered to conduct re-polling at the polling station 247 for the Yerragondapalem assembly and Ongole parliamentary constituencies on May 6, announced the Collector.

Vinay Chand also said that the decision of the re-polling by the EC was communicated to the contestants in writing and the arrangements are being made for the peaceful election. He said that there are 1,070 voters under the polling station and all of them are eligible to exercise their vote again. He said the indelible ink will be applied on the middle finger, instead of the index finger, for this re-polling.

He said that the polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm at the regular polling hours. He said that the election observers will reach Ongole by May 4 and monitor the issuing of new EVM and polling material to the concerned officers. He said that he asked the district SP to allocate personnel from state armed forces and ordered the local politicians and candidates to cooperate with the officials.