As the second phase of voting began on Thursday in India, Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and Voter-verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) glitches have been reported at a number of polling booths across the country.
Technical glitches were reported in some booths in Odisha on Thursday, which led to delay in voting.
The second phase of polling is being held for five Lok Sabha and 35 Assembly seats in the state.
Polling was delayed in Assam's Silchar owing to VVPAT malfunctioning at a polling station.
"There was a minor glitch in the machine, which has been fixed. The voters may cast the vote now," said Sajad Khan, Sector Officer (SO) deployed at the polling booth.
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In Uttar Pradesh, EVMs were not functioning at some booths in Mathura, leaving voters irked. Reports suggest that some voters returned without voting.
Faulty EVMs caused delays in booth numbers 29 and 134 in Raiganj Parliamentary Constituency, as well as at booth numbers 261 and 263 of Bolangir parliamentary constituency in Odisha.
Polling was delayed at Maniyakarapalayam government high school in Coimbatore, as the voting machine malfunctioned.
In Maharashtra, Beed District Magistrate Astik Kumar Pandey, said five places have reported EVM and VVPAT malfunctions since morning in Beed constituency, namely, Georai, Mazalgaon, Kej, Ashti, Parali.
However, all those machines have been replaced immediately and polling is going smoothly at all locations, he added.
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As part of the second phase of elections, polling is being held in Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam (5), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (3), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Karnataka (14), Maharashtra (10), Manipur (1), Odisha (5), Tamil Nadu (38), Uttar Pradesh (8), West Bengal (3), and a single parliamentary seat of Puducherry.
According to the Election Commission, a voter turnout of 69.43 per cent was recorded in phase one of elections in eighteen states and two Union Territories held on April 11.
In an unrelated incident, a 95-year-old man died, while waiting in the queue to cast his vote in Kansamari booth of Sanakhemundi in Odisha, which falls in the Lok Sabha constituency.
The deceased has been identified as Natabar Behera of Kansamari village.
(With inputs from agencies)
