Polling peaceful in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: Serpentine queues were witnessed at the polling booths in the first three hours of polling in Visakhapatnam district as people from various walks of life headed to their respective polling booths to exercise their franchise on Thursday. In the district, the polling went off peacefully with precautions taken by the police and the district administration.

Adequate precautions were taken by the NGOs and people's associations in view of the soaring temperature. Many health conscious people were armed with water bottles, soft drinks and tetra packs of lassi and buttermilk to keep themselves hydrated. Expected mothers were also seen waiting patiently for their turn, carrying their little ones at the venues.

While many first timers were seen taking selfies with their inked fingers, some returned home without exercising their franchise due to missing of names from voters list. "In spite of possessing a valid voter identity card, many could not find their names in the list like me.

I came to the polling station at 7 am and waited for almost two-and-a-half hours only to return home with disappointment," rues K Surya Kumari, a 70-year-old woman who came along with her son to vote.

Though the initial three hours witnessed heavy rush in the polling stations, the turnout gradually became low as the day progressed. Waiting for a longer time, technical glitches found in the EVM, delayed mock polling and humid weather condition, among other factors were attributed to the average turnout.

"Like the previous elections, I thought it would take less time to cast my vote. However, much to my surprise, I ended up waiting in the queue for a longer time than I intended to. Mock polling which was supposed to conclude by 7 am started at that time," notices AK Balaji, managing director of Lalitha Motors, who revisited the SEPH office, Seethammadhara to exercise his franchise.

Several EVMs failed to work in various polling booths across the constituencies which resulted in many return their homes without casting their votes.