THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  K.M. Abraham, former chief secretary of Kerala and present principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Friday suffered a rude jolt when after standing in the queue to cast his vote he failed to press the button on the electronic voting machine, as he was told that the number on his Electors Photo Identification Card (EPIC) had already been cast.

The poll officials when they searched with the EPIC number using Abraham’s number , found that a woman with the same EPIC number had already cast her vote, as the voters’ list contained the woman’s name.

A peeved Abraham had no other choice but to return without casting his vote but he registered a complaint with the Thiruvananthapuram district collector — the chief election official in the state capital district.