171 votes cast in a booth in Assam which has only 90 voters! Poll officials suspended

April 5: In what seems to be a strange matter in the history of elections, an auxiliary polling booth in Assam’s Dima Hasao district polled almost double the votes originally assigned to it in the electoral roll. The polling station set up at 107(A) Khotlir LP School is in the Haflong constituency, which went to the polls in the second phase on 1 April.

Deputy Commissioner-cum- District Election Officer of Dima Hasao suspended Seikhosiem Lhangum (Sector Officer), Prahlad Ch Roy (Presiding Officer), Parameswar Charangsa (1st Polling Officer), Swaraj Kanti Das (2nd Polling Officer) and Lalzamlo Thiek (3rd Polling Officer) for ‘dereliction of duty.’ Though the suspension order was issued on 2 April, the next day of polling, but it came to light on Monday morning. However, the official order for re-election at the booth, an auxiliary polling station of the main voting centre at Mouldam LP School, is yet to be issued.

As per an official statement, “The voters’ list of the polling station had 90 names, but 171 votes were cast in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).” As per media reports,”The head of that interior village refused to accept the voters’ list and brought a list of his own. It was then that the people of the village voted according to that list.”