Keen to win the elections at any cost, political parties have been busy to not let even a single vote out of their hands, even if the voters were not around.
Despite the EC’s stringent measures, intelligent party cadres are said to have garnered votes for their parties through impersonation. Though no official complaint has reached the EC, poll officials are certainly taking a closer look.
Rani Dorairaj (name changed), who is currently in the US and has voting right in Chennai, said, “I was shocked to hear that my vote has been cast by someone during the April 13 polls. I have been in New York for more than a year now. How could have this happened?” she wonders.
She came to know of the fraud when her brother wanted to score off her name from the list. “When my brother had asked the polling agent to score my name off as I was away, he was shocked to know that my vote had already been cast.” When asked about this, perplexed chief electoral officer Praveen Kumar said, “If we receive any specific complaints, we would look into this issue seriously as we could find the culprits with the help of web cameras fixed inside the polling booths.”
A few others like Rani were disappointed on April 13 when they went to the polling booth. “We had arranged an alternative way for those whose votes have been cast by others.”
But many were not aware about this. “Photographs of a few voters were not in the electoral list in some places in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts and this could have favoured the miscreants. We will sort out the issues soon,” said another election official.