Polls: 235 EVM units, 630 VVPAT machines changed in Marathwada

There were 865 instances of replacement of ballot units and control units of electronic voting machines and VVPAT machines due to technical glitches in 46 seats in Marathwada region during voting for the Maharashtra Assembly polls on Monday, officials said.

According to officials from eight districts in the region, 127 ballot units, 108 control units and 630 Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines were replaced between 7am and 5pm.

Giving a break-up of ballot units changed due to technical glitches, an official said the number, till 5pm, stood at 11 each for Aurangabad and Jalna, 10 each in Beed and Hingoli, 23 in Latur, 49 in Nanded, 7 in Osmanabad and 6 in Parbhani.

Control units were changed in Aurangabad (7), Beed (5), Latur (20), Jalna (7), Nanded (46), Osmanabad (7), Hingoli (10) and Parbhani (6) during this period, a poll official said.

Nanded led in VVPAT machine replacement count with 177, followed by Aurangabad at 98, Latur at 89, Beed at 82, Jalna at 71, Osmanabad at 52, Parbhani at 41 and Hingoli with 20, he said.

Satish Shivne, EVM nodal officer of Latur, told PTI that VVPAT machines were "delicate" with an array of sensors, though he added that the exact cause for so many of them malfunctioning will be ascertained after a detailed check.

A total of 671 candidates were in the fray from the 46 seats having a total voter count of 1.45 crore. The number of polling booths in the eight districts were 15,964, said officials.