‘Disappointing’: Akshaya Hariharan Says Someone Else Cast Her Vote

Tamil actor Akshaya Hariharan has claimed that someone else voted in her name during the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026, which took place on Thursday, April 23.

The actress shared a video on X, stating that she visited her polling booth in Adyar, Chennai, after checking her details online, as she had not received her voter slip. Akshaya said she had travelled from Velachery to cast her vote.

Describing the “shocking” experience, Akshaya alleged that she waited at the polling station for nearly an hour before officials informed her that her vote had already been cast. She further claimed that while the name and details matched hers, the photograph on record belonged to another woman.

“Hi, I am just here to say that someone else has already cast my vote. It is really shocking. I am from Velachery in Tamil Nadu, and I did not get my voter slip. Then the details were shared online that my booth was in Adyar, so I went there and waited for an hour. Then I was told that someone else had already cast my vote,” Akshaya said.

“There was another photo of a woman claiming to be a 24-year-old, and they had taken a fingerprint. My second name is Hariharan, so everything is correct on the paper, but only the photos are different. They should have checked beforehand. How can someone else cast my vote?” she added.

The actress further said she was later allowed to cast an alternative vote but expressed dissatisfaction with the process. She called it “really disappointing” that no one at the booth was able to answer her questions.

“Finally, after waiting for so long, I cast my tender ballot vote, or challenge vote, I am not really sure about the term. I do not find it appropriate because it was just a paper, and they did not even seal it in front of me. How can you let things like this happen in the first place? No one had answers to my questions,” she said.

“It is really disappointing that things like this are happening. A few lawyers have got in touch with me, so I took the alternative vote. What I did was the right thing, but I am going to raise a complaint with my nearest RO office,” she added.

Voting for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections was held on April 23. Several well-known names from the Tamil film industry, including Rajinikanth, Suriya and Kamal Haasan, were also seen at polling booths. (ANI)