Guwahati: Videos widely circulated online show polling officials in remote areas of Arunachal Pradesh, not far from the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border with China, carrying bulky EVMs, or electronic voting machines, and other election materials, trekking over mountains and braving rains to reach voters in eight polling stations in four districts where re-polling took place on Thursday.
Held between 6 AM and 2 PM, voting was peaceful and around 4,470 voters - a turnout of around 85 per cent - exercised their franchise, officials said. The re-polling took place in East Kameng, Kurunq Kumey, Upper Subansiri, and Siang, after the Election Commission declared earlier polling "void".
Arunachal Pradesh - which has two Lok Sabha seats - voted in the first phase on April 19. However, the poll panel ruled that voting in the above districts had been disturbed by violence.
Officials also said EVMs at some of these booths had been damage during the violence. So, like Manipur, which also has two seats and also reported violence, the poll panel directed a second round of voting.
READ | Repolling At 8 Polling Stations In Arunachal That Saw Violence
In Manipur's case, re-polling (across 11 booths) resulted in a more peaceful democratic exercise with a voter turnout of around 82 per cent.
After the re-polling in Arunachal, election officials, once again carrying election materials and the EVMs, accompanied by security personnel, had to trek back through winding mountainous roads, amid more heavy rain, to reach their destinations in the sub-divisional and district headquarters.
Videos shared by the state's poll panel showed the arduous task.
The 2024 Lok Sabha election will take place across seven phases and conclude on June 1, with results due on June 4.