Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh voters' tryst with technology had its share of hiccups today (Apr 20, 2004) with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) developing technical snag at several polling stations across ten districts delaying the polling process.

For the first time in the state, EVMs have been installed at all the 29,622 polling booths in the areas going to polls in the first phase today covering 21 out of 42 Lok Sabha and 147 out of 294 Assembly constituencies in the State.

Elections 2004-The Drama unfolds...
Political Parties in India

Reports of EVMs failing to register the votes poured in from Mahaboobnagar, Kurnool, Karimnagar, Ranga Reddy, Nizamabad, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Khammam, Nalgonda and West Godavari, besides some polling booths in the twin cities.

An official of the State Election Department, however, said that special teams of officials, assisted by technicians from Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), were being rushed to the problem areas to rectify the snag.

"The special zonal officers, each having jurisdiction over about 100 polling stations, have at their disposal a set of additional EVMs to be dispatched to the problem areas. They are also provided with mobile phones to receive complaints from the field," he said.

Meanwhile, the main Opposition Congress expressed doubts over efficacy of EVMs and had demanded a random check of the machines by representatives of various political parties before the start of the polling process.