The joint report of the Kannur and Kasaragod District Collectors on the alleged bogus voting in some booths in the Kalliassery Assembly segment here, which is in the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency, will be submitted to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Teeka Ram Meena in a couple of days, according to officials here.
The CEO had sought a report from Kannur District Collector Mir Mohammed Ali and Kasaragod Collector Sajith Babu on the media disclosure of footage in a booth that showed some people allegedly casting bogus votes. The United Democratic Front (UDF) here had said that the disclosure lent credence to its allegation that there were widespread instances of bogus voting in the district on April 23.
Officials sources said that though the charge of alleged bogus voting in the booth at Pilathara here was prima facie true, all aspects would be examined before submitting the report. “It will be a joint report by Kannur and Kasaragod Collectors, who are Returning Officers of Kannur and Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituencies respectively,” said an official in Kasaragod. The report could not be submitted off-hand without doing preliminary inquiries, he added.
‘Actionable evidence’
Election officials here said that the webcasting done in 1,841 of the total 1,857 booths in the district on the polling day yielded actionable evidence.
The district election authorities had proposed webcasting in all polling booths irrespective of whether the booths were classified critical or vulnerable. That proposal had been accepted by the CEO’s office. “Because of that we have the footage today,” an official said.
