A polling agent in Faridabad near Delhi was seized on Sunday, 12 May 2019, after he was claimed to have influenced voters in the sixth round of the national election. Strict action was taken against the on-duty official after a video on Twitter was brought into limelight and also into the notice of the Haryana election body.
The video depicted a man in blue t-shirt sitting at his table inside a polling booth at Asaoti in Faridabad Lok Sabha seat's Prithla. Women voters can be seen standing in a queue inside the room. The man walks up to the voting compartment as a woman prepares to cast her vote, appears to press a button on the voting machine before returning to his seat. He repeats the act with two other women.
In the video, no other officials present in the room tried to cease the man from going to the voting compartment and doing this act. The accused was arrested on Sunday evening very soon after the complaint was filed.
"Prompt action taken. FIR lodged. Person behind bars. Observer enquired the matter personally and is satisfied that polling was never vitiated (sic)," the District Election Office in Faridabad tweeted after the Haryana election body instructed them to take action. The local election officials said the polling agent was trying to influence "at least 3 lady voters".
The election body admitted that the man was trying to influence voters nevertheless the polling process was not affected. Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa remarked, "The scrutiny of this polling station will be comprehensive."
The election commission made a decision to study the report of the Faridabad election observer before taking further action. Faridabad recorded a 64.46 turnout on voting terms.