Re-polling in 34 booths of Odisha likely on May 19

Bhubaneswar: Taking cognizance of irregularities and incidents of violence at several booths during 3rd and 4th phase polls in the State, the Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha, Surendra Kumar today informed that re-polling will take place in 34 booths.

Earlier, Kumar had requested Election Commission of India for re-polling in the concerned booths. Re-polling will be held in maximum five booths of Bari constituency and four each in Mahanga, Baripada and Athgarh constituencies over rigging allegations.

"We are in talks with the Election Commission of India. Re-polling will most probably take place on May 19 which is the last phase of Lok Sabha elections. In total, re-polling will take place in 34 booths," Kumar said.

On the other hand, preparations are in full swing for May 23, the day when the counting will be done and results will be declared for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. While all the Returning Officers will be trained on May 13 and 14, training will be imparted at the district level from May 14 to May 19.

Commenting about the security of EVM and VVPAT machines post cyclone Fani, Kumar said that all the machines are safe and only a wall of a strong room in Puri was damaged following which an extra platoon of police force has been deployed.