Tamil actress Akshaya Hariharan has raised concerns after an unsettling experience during the Tamil Nadu elections 2026 held on April 23. She posted a video explaining that when she went to vote, she was told that her vote had already been cast by someone else.
Recounting what happened, Akshaya said she had to visit a different polling booth after not receiving her voter slip. What followed left her shocked and questioning the process.
Also read: Photos: Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Vijay cast their votes at Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026
Akshaya Hariharan shares her voting ordeal
“Hi I am just here to say that someone else has already casted my vote. It is really shocking. So I am from Velachery (in Tamil Nadu), and I didn’t get my vote slip. Then, the details were shared online that my booth was in Adiyar, so I went to Adiyar and waited for an hour and then someone else had already casted my vote. There was another photo of a woman claiming to be 24 year-old, and they put a fingerprint. My second name is Hariharan so everything is correct on the paper but only photos are different. So they should have checked before because how can someone else cast their vote for me?”, Akshaya said in the video which she posed on social media.
Despite the confusion, she said she was eventually allowed to cast an alternate vote, though the process did not leave her reassured. She added, “Finally after waiting for so much time, I finally cast my tender ballot vote or challenge vote, I am not really sure about that. I don’t find it appropriate because it was just a paper and they did not even seal it infront of me. How can you let things like this happen in the first place? No one had answers to my questions. It is really disappointing that things like this is happening… few lawyers have got in touch with me so I took the alternate vote but what I did was the right thing, but I am going to raise a complaint to my nearest RO office.”
She also shared her feelings in a note on Instagram, expressing that the experience did not feel the same as casting a regular vote. “Doesn’t feel like I have really voted. It is not the same as voting in a machine. Its just a paper and an envelope. This is the best I could do though. Please don’t waste your vote. You still have time.”
Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Trisha Krishnan cast their votes in Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections 2026
Meanwhile, several prominent names from the film industry were seen at polling booths across the state. Rajinikanth was among the early voters, while others like Vijay Sethupathi, Dhanush, Vikram, Khushbu Sundar, RJ Balaji, Sivakarthikeyan, Kamal Haasan, Shruti Haasan, Atlee, Radhika Sarathkumar, Sarathkumar, Ilaiyaraaja, Trisha Krishnan, Vishal, R Parthiban, Pradeep Ranganathan and Arjun Sarja were also spotted casting their votes.
Also read: Trisha Krishnan shows her inked finger after casting vote, pairs it with Vijay’s Ghilli track
