Re-polling in 12 booths in Karnataka on Tuesday

Re-polling will be held Tuesday in a dozen polling booths spread across nine Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka due to glitches in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and fault of polling personnel in one booth, a senior official said Saturday.

"We have ordered re-polling in 11 booths of nine parliamentary seats after technicians found the EVMs used in them faulty and due to mishandling of the machine in one booth," state chief electoral officer Anil Kumar Jha told reporters here.

General elections were held April 17 in all the 28 Lok Sabha seats across the state, and saw 67.3% voting.

Re-polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 pm. April 29 in Ranebennur booth (57) in Haveri constituency, Bagalkot and Jamkhandi booths (7 & 27) in Bagalkot, Sindagi booth (216) in Bijapur, Sedam booth (165) in Gulbarga (reserved), Shapur and Yadgir booths (35 & 112) in Raichur, two booths in Bidar town (20 & 21) in Bidar, in Byandur booth (174) in Shimoga, in Arsikere booth (72) in Hassan and in Turvekare booth (8) in Tumkur constituency.

"Re-polling in the Turvekare booth is due to improper handling of the EVM by the polling personnel, who have been suspended for not reporting the matter on the polling day," Jha said.

The state poll panel sought the Election Commission's permission for re-polling after technicians retrieved the data from the faulty EVMs.

"Re-polling is being held to avoid any dispute after counting of votes May 16 due to glitch in the EVMs," Jha clarified.

The poll panel has also re-enforced the model code of conduct (MCC) in all the nine constituencies where re-polling has been ordered.

With inputs from agencies