How the polling day unfolded in Mohali district

Glitches in EVMs at certain polling stations

Certain polling stations in Mohali district witnessed delay in start of voting process following glitches in electronic voting machines (EVMs). The polling stations were at Jhungian village, Machlikalan, Kharar, Balongi and Chatt. According to sources, some polling stations saw delay of more than an hour. Confirming the development, Mohali Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Gurpreet Kaur Sapra said there were some technical snags in EVMs at these places. “We rectified the snag and also replaced the faulty ones at certain polling stations to start the voting process,” said Sapra.

Eight all-woman polling stations in district

All-women polling booth concept certainly went well with localites as pleasing decoration was done at such stations here. According to Sapra, the district had eight such polling stations where every job was being handled by women officials only. Such a polling station at Government Girls Senior Secondary School at Sohana was decked with pink tent and balloons. Even most of the polling stations in the town were decorated very well. “We have named such stations as ‘Sakhi’ polling stations. Of the total eight such stations, two were set up in Mohali, while Dera Bassi and Kharar were having five and one ‘Sakhi’ polling stations, respectively,” said Sapra.

Elderly persons rue lack of facilities at Phase 11

Residents, especially the elderly ones, were seen upset at a polling station set up at a community centre in Phase 11 here as it was lacking proper facilities. “The elderly voters have to use stairs and the centre has no facility for wheelchairs,” lamented a woman voter, whose elderly father was accompanying him to vote. The voter rued that her father was not well still he came to be a part of the democratic process. “The authorities should have checked all such things beforehand at all polling stations,” said the resident.

Selfie counters a hit among all

Selfie corners set up at several polling stations were certainly being admired by voters of all ages. Not only youngsters but also several elderly voters, children and family members were seen clicking their photos at these corners. “I have clicked my photo at this well-decorated selfie corner and also posted it on social media,” said Hitika, a local youngster with smile.

(Contributed by Akash Ghai)