EC bars opening of ‘polling material rooms’

Close on the heels of a controversy over the opening of a ‘polling material room’ in Kozhikode and the attempt to open another one at Nemmara in Palakkad, the Election Commission of India (EC) on Tuesday issued a directive to all district election officers and returning officers in the State not to open strong rooms under any circumstances before the day the votes are counted.

The directive was issued by Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala, Rathan U. Kelkar following reports of the opening of a strong room storing electronic voting machines (EVM) in the Perambra constituency in Kozhikode on Monday and reported plans to open another one in the Nemmara constituency in Palakkad.