In a major embarrassment for the Election Commission (EC), some polling officers deployed on the election duty failed to erase data of mock poll from the control unit of the EVMs. As per the guidelines of the EC, a mock poll is carried out an hour before the actual polling.
The objective of this process is to test whether the EVM is working properly or not. At least 50 test votes are cast in the mock poll in presence of the polling agents.
The data of this mock poll is erased from the Control Unit (CU) of the EVMs before the stat of the polling.
In Uttarakhand it is learnt that in the Mukhwa polling station of Gangotri in Tehri Lok Sabha the polling officer failed to delete the data of mock poll. Similar folly was done at Garh East (Jwalapur), Tanda Banhera (Manglor) and Baderna Kalan ( Doiwala) of Haridwar parliamentary constituency and Khet polling station of Dharchula in Almora and Kamluwaganj ( Kaladhungi) in Nainital – Udham Singh Nagar parliamentary constituency.
When contacted, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sowjanya said that counting would be done on the basis of the VVPAT slips of the EVMs of these booths.
