The Election Commission of India has on Tuesday ordered to conduct a repoll in one of the polling stations in the Velachery constituency in Tamil Nadu in the light of registration of fresh votes in the VVPAT after the closure of the polls. The development has come a week after the assembly polls in the state and it's the first time in Tamil Nadu in recent years that a polling booth would go for a re-poll.  

According to the order issued by the Chief Electoral body, booth number 92 of Velachery Assembly Constituency will go for a re-poll on April 17 between 7 am and 7 pm. The decision of conducting the re-poll has come on the basis of a report submitted by the returning officers and election observers. Velachery is one of the crucial constituencies in Chennai and it had seen a violation of the electoral norms after the Chennai Corporation Officials had transported two EVM (Electronic Voting Machines) and VVPAT machines of booth number 92 on a two-wheeler.

The officials had carried the machines in the Velachery-Taramani road and when it had drawn attention from the election commission, the EVMs and VVPATs were recovered from them. The state election commission had then revealed that the VVPAT machine had 15 fresh votes in it and was used for 50 minutes on April 6 after the polling was over. The incident, which had happened amid the tight security and surveillance, had stirred massive outrage across the state with the opposition parties had demanded the election commission to conduct re-polling at a polling station in Velachery where the EVMs and VVPAT belonged to.

When it was initially said that the corporation official was just transporting the machine, Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo has admitted that the machine was used for 50 minutes and it had 15 votes. Sahoo said that the transportation of the EVMs, the control unit, and the VVPAT machine in a motorbike was in violation of the polling norms. He stated that a report on the incident has been sent to the Election Commission of India for a further course of action.

After the incident came to light that troubled the Chennai Corporation, the civic body had suspended the officials for carrying the machine on a two-wheeler. Amid the speculations over a re-poll in booth number 92 at DAV School in Velachery, the Election Commission of India has now ordered to conduct a re-poll in this polling booth on April 17, based on the report disclosed by the state election commission and observers. 

In an order addressed to the returning officer of Velachery, the Election Commission said, "On the basis of the report of the returning officer, observers, and after taking all materials circumstances into account, the Commission hereby declared under Sections 58 (1(b) of the Representation of the People's Act, 1951 that the poll that was taken on April 6, 2021, at polling No 92 of 26-Velachery Assembly constituency to be void and appoints 17 April 2021 (Saturday) as the date and fixes the hours from 7.00 AM to 7.00 PM for taking a fresh poll". 

The Election Commission's order further said that the re-poll will be conducted based on the instructions provided by the Commission in the handbook for returning officers. The commission has further requested the officials to publicize the information in the polling areas and to inform the contesting candidates through a written note. It had advised the officials to ensure to station adequate security at the polling stations to conduct a free, fair, and peaceful re-poll. It must be noted that Tamil Nadu had gone through the single-phase polling on April 6 for its 234 assembly seats. The votes would be counted on May 2 and the results will be announced on the same day.