Bogus voting in name of 94-year-old dead person, BLO arrested

PATHANAMTHITTA: A booth level officer (BLO) has been arrested in connection with bogus voting in the name of a 94-year-old dead woman. The Elavumthitta police arrested BLO Ambili of Mezhuveli. Her arrest was registered after bringing her to the station. She was later released on bail. The BLO and the congress panchayat member Shubanandana were included in the list of the accused. The police said Shubanandana will also be arrested in the case.

Annamma's serial number was 874 in the voters list. Without removing it, 65-year-old Annamma (also bore the same name as Annamma), daughter-in-law of Annamma with serial number 876, voted for the dead. The LDF filed a complaint with the election commission alleging that the bogus voting happened with the knowledge of first ward Congress member of Mezhuveli Panchayat and demanded action.

Meantime, with two days left for polling in Kerala, the officials will go to the booths on Thursday. Voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm on Friday. 25231 booths have been set up for 2,77,49,159 voters in 20 Lok Sabha constituencies.

The Central Election Commission has announced that the polling in eight constituencies will be fully filmed (webcasting) as part of security precautions. Voting in Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram constituencies will be filmed. Voting machines are kept in strong rooms. It will be handed over to the polling officers on the eve of polling.