Empty ballot boxes found near Haveri; DC says they are from 2020 gram panchayat election

Reports of 10 ballot boxes found in a drain on the outskirts Haveri on Thursday, a day after the polling for Shiggaon byelection, led to speculations of election malpractice. However, they turned out to be unrelated to the bypolls.

The ballot boxes were found in the drain on Yattinhalli Road near Haveri by residents who had gone for a morning walk. They immediately alerted the officials, and as the news spread, speculations about election malpractice started making the rounds.

Responding to the development, Deputy Commissioner of Haveri Vijaymahanthesh Danammanavar told presspersons that the Haveri tahsildar had been directed to inquire into the issue and also clarified that the ballot boxes had nothing to do with the Shiggaon bypolls.

Later in the evening, the Deputy Commissioner issued a press release clarifying that the ballot boxes were of the 2020 gram panchayat elections and some persons had taken them away from the APMC warehouse in Haveri.

He said: “After the conclusion of the gram panchayat elections in 2020, the Haveri tahsildar had deposited 41 of the total 621 ballot boxes in the tahsildar’s office and the remaining 580 ballot boxes in the APMC warehouse located on the Guttal Road in Haveri. It has come to light at 9 a.m. on Thursday that a some miscreants had broken into the APMC warehouse and taken away 10 empty ballot boxes and subsequently left them in the drain near Yattinahalli village. The ballot boxes are of the State Election Commission”.

Mr. Danammanavar said that the district administration had taken up the issue seriously and taken up investigation.

Published - November 14, 2024 08:25 pm IST