A police case has been registered against a 21-year-old young man in Kerala after he alleged that the EVM machine he used had registered a wrong vote. However, the allegation remained unproven and he was granted bail.
Abin had cast his vote at booth number 151 in Pattom Kendriya Vidyalaya in Thiruvananthapuram. He then complained to election officers in the booth and party cadre waiting outside that although he had voted for one party, the vote registered in the EVM and VVPAT was for the lotus symbol.
The Presiding Officer then made Abin do a test vote as per the provisions of rule 49(MA) of Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961. However, when this test vote was conducted, the VVPAT registered the vote correctly.
According to provisions laid down by Conduct of Elections Rules, the Presiding Officer can make a remark on the second entry; obtain the signature of the voter; or make entries regarding the re-voting in form 17(C). However, in this case, the presiding officer registered a complaint with the Medical College Police Station in Thiruvananthapuram based on which, the police have registered a case against the 21-year-old under section 177 (furnishing false information punishable up to 2 years in jail) of the Indian Penal Code.
TNM spoke to Abin, who was upset at the turn of events. He said that he was not told by the Presiding Officer that a case could be filed against him if the test-vote did not record the alleged violation.
He has also alleged that he did not want to make an issue out of it. But party cadres who were at the booth told me to test-vote and they created ruckus. This was when he was allowed to test-vote, however he was not told of the consequences.
"The vote did not register for the person I voted for. I saw it myself. The vote registered for the lotus symbol. I gave a complaint. But when I re-voted, it came correctly,” he said, while adding, “I don’t know if they will take the first vote which was wrongly registered and frankly, I don’t care anymore. They (EC officials) did not tell me as well. All I want is to escape from the hassle.”
TNM asked Presiding Officer Shaila Bai why a police complaint was filed against the young man. She said that she was not aware of the police complaint, her senior officers may have given it. "Yes, I submitted a report to my senior officials. They must have filed a complaint to the police. I'm not aware of anything else," she told TNM.