Some voters in northeast India go back to the polls after violence disrupts first day of election

GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Voters at a handful polling places in a northeastern Indian state went back to the polls amid tight security on Monday after violence disrupted the vote last week.

Indian election authorities voided the results at 11 of Manipur state's nearly 3,000 polling stations after armed men damaged election machines during the first day of voting in national elections on Friday.

State officials said that at at least six of the stations, armed men broke the electronic voting machines which citizens use to cast their ballots.

Manipur has been wracked by ethnic violence between the state’s two dominant ethnic groups since May 2023. Around 200 people have been killed and over 60,000 displaced as mobs have rampaged through villages and torched houses.

The unrest broke out when Christian Kukis protested a demand by the mostly Hindu Meiteis for a special status that would let them buy land in hills that populated by Kukis and other tribal groups. The clashes have persisted despite the army’s presence in Manipur, a state of 3.7 million people tucked in the mountains on India’s border with Myanmar.

The world’s largest democratic election began in India on Friday, as millions across 21 states cast their votes. The six-week long multi-phase election is seen as a referendum on Narendra Modi, the populist prime minister who has made Hindu nationalism mainstream as he seeks a third, straight term as the country’s leader. The votes will be counted on June 4.

The main opposition Congress party on Friday had alleged that the vote was being rigged in Manipur and demanded re-polling at 47 stations. Earlier that day, there were incidents of clashes among armed groups in the state. Despite the violence, the state saw 66.5% voter turnout.

Other parts of the state state will also head to the polls on April 26 for a second phase of voting.

This article has been edited to correct the voter turnout figure for Manipur state.

A paramilitary soldier stops a vehicle from entering a polling booth area during a re-polling in Imphal West District, Manipur, India, Monday, April 22, 2024. Voters at some polling places in this northeastern state went back to the polls amid tight security on Monday after violence disrupted the vote last week. (AP Photo/Bullu Raj)

A woman, right, casts her vote during a re-polling in Imphal West District, Manipur, India, Monday, April 22, 2024. Voters at some polling places in this northeastern state went back to the polls amid tight security on Monday after violence disrupted the vote last week. (AP Photo/Bullu Raj)

A woman carrying a child poses after casting her vote during a re-polling in Imphal West District, Manipur, India, Monday, April 22, 2024. Voters at some polling places in this northeastern state went back to the polls amid tight security on Monday after violence disrupted the vote last week. (AP Photo/Bullu Raj)

A Border Security Force soldier stands guard as women queue up to vote during a re-polling in Imphal West District, Manipur, India, Monday, April 22, 2024. Voters at some polling places in this northeastern state went back to the polls amid tight security on Monday after violence disrupted the vote last week. (AP Photo/Bullu Raj)

A woman carries a baby in a sling on her back as she shows her papers to a security personnel at a polling booth before casting her vote during the first round of polling of India's national election in Bishnupur constituency on the outskirts of Imphal, Manipur, India, Friday, April 19, 2024. Nearly 970 million voters will elect 543 members for the lower house of Parliament for five years, during staggered elections that will run until June 1. (AP Photo/Bullu Raj)

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.

Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.

“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."

Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.

Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.

“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.

Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.

FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)