AHMEDABAD, Sept 5: Few of the 40 per cent of voters who turned up at booths in Ahmedabad Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday seemed to have problems with the electronic voting machines (EVMs) introduced this time.They made their choice at the press of a blue button on the machines. However, EVMs at some places developed snags and had to be changed. About 17 EVMs were changed during the first two hours of voting. The usual complaints were that buttons were jammed or batteries were running low.The main battle in the constituency is between Harin Pathak of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Girish Dani of the Congress. Polling passed off peacefully.Though the voting began on a poor note with most of the polling booths registering less than eight per cent voting, it gradually picked up to touch about 40 per cent. By 1 p.m., just about 18 per cent votes had been cast, which then rose to 30 per cent by 3 p.m.While walled city areas like Kalupur and Khadia witnessed relatively better voting, areas like Vatva and Maninagar and Naroda saw poor voter turnout.The polling-day winners were the 1,300 EVMs: against apprehension that illiterate voters would be confused by the gadgetry, almost all of them found themselves comfortable. Most of them expressed relief that the cumbersome procedure of marking their choice with a rubber stamp, folding the ballot paper properly, and putting it into the ballot box had been done away with.Alibhai M. Patel of Jamalpur area said, ``I found it so convenient. Just press the button and it is over in a jiffy. This is really a good system.''Gauriben Parmar of Behrampura area expressed surprise when asked whether she faced any difficulty. ``I did not have any problem. It is so simple. Just press the button.''There were voters who came to vote just because they want a stable government. ``I am worried lest the country should have another mid-term poll. That is why I came to vote,'' said 65-year-old Harshadbhai Vyas, a retired bank employee, who had recently had recovered from a brain haemorrhage.Since voting by EVMs is quick, queues were not much in evidence. ``Casting vote by EVM does not take even one-fifth of what it takes with manual voting,'' said a presiding officer.In all about 25 complaints of poll-related irregularities were received by the returning officer, of which 12 are of bogus voting. The BJP alleged that Congress had indulged in bogus voting at 20 booths in Jamalpur, Raikhad, and Kalupur areas.
