Chennai, Tamil Nadu: The incident, in which some men wearing polling official badges were found carrying two Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and two VVPATs on two-wheelers, has created a massive controversy in the state.
The incident took place in Velachery on Tuesday after the Assembly elections were held.
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Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrat Sahoo on Friday said one of the two EVMs got malfunctioned during the poll and only 15 votes had been cast in that machine. The other EVM was a spare machine, he said.
Issuing a clarification regarding the incident, Sahoo said, "They had not used the EVMs which were carried in the two-wheelers. Initially, they used one of the machines for 15 minutes during which only 15 votes were cast. But, an issue was raised later regarding the malfunction of VVPATs. So, they replaced those with new ones. There were 200 voters in that polling booth," Sahoo said.
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On the Opposition's demand for a re-polling, he said the ECI will take the decision. "Carrying VVPATs on a two-wheeler is a violation of rules. We have sent a report to the ECI regarding the incident," he said.
The Election Commission has suspended the three officials besides ordering an investigation into the incident.
