CHENNAI: Fatigue of the recent state Assembly elections was evident on Monday as polling for Corporation elections began on a lethargic note. The city wore a look of being on an extended weekend. Added to that were heavy showers that lashed many parts of the city, leaving the voters indoors. By noon, the city had recorded barely 28-30 per cent voter turnout, according to Corporation sources.“There was only a dog lying outside my polling booth in Egmore. It made me wonder if I was in the wrong place,” says Lakshmi S, who went to vote early. In areas like Vadapalani, Saligramam, KK Nagar and Ashok Nagar, polling began on a brisk note only to be fizzled out by the rains. People were seen leaving the booths and rushing home. First-time voters at many places, however, came with an undaunted spirit to exercise their franchise, despite the rains. “I have not been out of bed before 10 am for quite some time. But today, I was so excited to vote that I sprang out by 6 am and was in the booth by 7 am,” says Shruti, an IT employee from Anna Nagar. In Vadapalani, three college students, all first-time voters, went eagerly to vote only to find their names missing from the electoral rolls. “We carried our ration cards, passports and all the necessary documents and even braved the rains, only to find our names missing from the list,” said Senthil, a student. The voters also had other complaints that they had to deal with. In many areas, the rains left the polling premises flooded, causing inconvenience to differently-abled voters who had come to cast their vote. “The floors and premises were slippery making it extremely difficult for the differently-abled to walk,” said Sunitha, a physically challenged person. Despite obstacles, many geriatrics and differently-abled people were seen exercising their franchise.Interestingly, a lot of middle-aged mothers were seen at the booths fretting over how to handle the EVMs. “Having been on polling duty, I helped a few women by teaching them how to use the EVM,” said Lakshmi Swaminathan, a school teacher who had come to vote. Their fears were not unfounded because in many booths there were snags. Polling was held up for close to three hours at a booth in Kodambakkam after the machine malfunctioned. Irritated voters left the scene, saying that there was a limit to waiting.At several schools that served as polling booths, adequate arrangements had not been made for parking outside the venue. Traffic snarls and minor arguments over party vehicles blocking voters' bikes broke out in Dasarathapuram and Saligramam. Policemen in these booths had to amicably settle these scuffles and also regulate parking outside, which meant they were a couple of hands short inside the booth.Booths at Stella Maris College, where Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa exercised her franchise, witnessed very dull voting in the first three hours. At 10.15 am, the CM was the 36th voter in her booth, which had a total of 1,061 voters. Only 50 voters had exercised their franchise by 11 am. Similar was the case with several other booths in Mylapore, Gopalapuram and Royapettah.
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