Delhi votes as more than 1.47 cr voters decide the fate of 672 candidates

All preparations are in place for the Delhi  Assembly elections underway on Saturday.

Voting began at 8 in the morning and wind up at 6 PM.

DD NEWS 

Election Commission and other agencies have made elaborate arrangements to ensure smooth conduct of the polls.

90,000 government employees are deployed to manage the election. 190 companies of Central Armed Police Forces and 42,000 Delhi Police personnel are deployed to ensure fair and peaceful conduct of election.

Over 1.47 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.

This time there are 2,32,815 young voters aged between 18 and 19, who will be using the franchise for the first time.

672 candidates are in fray for the 70 assembly seats.

Special attention has been given to the security preparations for the sensitive constituencies. In view of the ongoing anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh, all five polling stations in the area have been put under the ‘critical’ category, and confidence-building measures are continuously being undertaken to reassure voters.

The 2020 Delhi polls will be tech-driven with greater use of technology elements like mobile apps, QR codes, social media interface, seeking to enhance the experience of all categories of voters, before polling or on the voting day. Electors can carry smartphones at polling stations in 11 assembly constituencies for accessing QR codes from the voters’ helpline app in case they have not brought the voters’ slip to the booth.

Delhi has 70 Assembly constituencies and one constituency in each of the 11 districts will have this tech-driven facility.

The Election Commission has issued a show cause notice to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for posting a video on his Twitter handle to target the opposition, saying prima facie it has the potential of disturbing communal harmony. Kejriwal has been asked to respond to the notice before 5.00 pm on Saturday.

For today’s polls, there are a few things, a voter should ensure before going to cast vote:

– Checking your name in the voter list, locating your polling station and knowing your candidate. All this is available on voter helpline app or www.nsvp.in, or you can call on voter helpline number 1950.

– No mobile phones are allowed in the polling booth and voters must carry any of the 12 valid ID cards to the polling station like: EPIC card, passport, Driving license, Aadhar card etc.

– Voters should remember that they can vote only if their name appears in the voters’ list.