Kerala: Young mother casts vote after hours-long wait over bandaged finger

Thrissur (Kerala): A young mother in this central district, initially denied the right to vote due to an injured left index finger, finally cast her ballot toward the end of polling in the Kerala Assembly elections on Thursday after a prolonged wait following CEO’s intervention.

She held up her bandaged finger, now inked blue, and said she was able to vote after hours of waiting.

Akshaya cast her vote at around 6.15 pm, having arrived at the booth near Kurkancheri at 1.30 pm.

“I don’t want anyone else to have such an experience,” she told reporters.

She claimed that the presiding officer initially denied her permission to vote, saying that a different finger can be inked only if a person does not have a left index finger.

Referring to the incident in an ‘X’ post, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Kerala said that Akshaya was allowed to vote following a written order from it.

“In Thrissur, a woman named Akshaya was initially stopped from voting because her left index finger was bandaged due to an injury. The Presiding Officer refused to let her vote since the election ink could not be applied to that finger. However, the Chief Electoral Officer intervened and gave a written order, allowing her to cast her vote,” it said in the ‘X’ post.

Earlier, speaking to reporters, Akshaya said she was not being allowed to vote because her left index finger was bandaged due to a serious injury.

At around 5 pm, she told reporters outside the booth that she had been waiting since 1.30 pm to exercise her right to vote, which the presiding officer also a woman was allegedly denying.

“The presiding officer insisted that I remove the bandage. But I have 15 stitches on my finger after it was injured four days ago when it got caught in the mixer-grinder jar, and it is impossible to remove the bandage. I showed her the medical certificates as well, but she was not satisfied,” Akshaya claimed.

“I have been waiting since 1.30 pm without food. I will not leave without voting,” she added.

CPI leader V S Sunil Kumar contended that the presiding officer was taking an “arrogant stand” by refusing to allow Akshaya to vote, despite other presiding officers asking her to permit it.

Even the Returning Officer (RO) instructed her to allow her to vote, but the presiding officer remained adamant that the direction be given to her in writing, Kumar claimed.