EC asks administration to be voter-friendly

NEW DELHI, November 22: The Election Commission today asked the administration to be voter-friendly so that more people could exercise their...

NEW DELHI, November 22: The Election Commission today asked the administration to be voter-friendly so that more people could exercise their franchise. Polling booths will now have food stalls for the voters along with a resting place, drinking water facilities and a first-aid box in every booth. These measures have been taken in view of the low voter turnout during the parliamentary elections.

The voter turnout the last time was only 51 per cent, while the national average was 62 per cent. 8220;If the booths are comfortable places, more voters will come forward to cast their vote. I have implemented this scheme successfully in other states,8221;election commissioner G V G Krishnamurthy told reporters after holding a review meeting with senior civil administration and police officials.

He asked the Delhi police to seal the borders with the adjoining states and to intensify its drive against anti-social elements to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls in the capital. Special emphasis is being laid on security in 180 sensitive polling booths here.

8220;We have received authentic information that some anti-social elements have filtered into the capital from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab,8221; Krishnamurthy said. The direction to seal the borders with neighbouring states, he said, was to prevent further infiltration of anti-social elements into the capital.

Krishnamurthy said 30 companies of para-military forces, including the CRPF, Rapid Action Force and BSF, 323 companies of Delhi police and 8,000 home guards will be deployed on November 25 to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls. He said 1173 sector officers and 20 central observers will supervise the entire poll arrangements, including security.

Drawing attention to the fact that only 10 out of 30 para-military companies had arrived in Delhi, Krishnamurthy said the matter will be discussed with the home ministry soon.

8220;We can8217;t leave anything to chance,8221; he said, adding, 8220;the ministry will have to provide the remaining 20 companies8221;.

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Krishnamurthy also said that 1041 buses will carry polling staff to the booths on November 25. Ballot boxes will be carried from the booths to the counting centres in 900 taxis and 71 mini-buses.

Expressing satisfaction over the reduction in number of candidates in the poll fray, he said Commission8217;s measure of increasing the security deposit to Rs 5,000 has kept out non-serious candidates.

He said there were only 815 candidates in fray as against 1,316 in 1993. While Badarpur constituency in South Delhi is the biggest in the capital with 2,02,376 voters, Matia Mahal in the walled city with 78,483 voters is the smallest assembly constituency, he said.

On the introduction of electronic voting machines EVMS, he said: 8220;It is an experiment, if successful, will be introduced in future elections8221;.