Delhi has 15,201,936 voters as on May 7 — an increase of 885,483 electors in comparison to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls
More than 15.2 million people in the Capital are eligible to exercise their franchise in phase 6 of the Lok Sabha elections on May 25, Delhi chief electoral officer P Krishnamurthy said on Tuesday.
According to data shared by the CEO, Delhi has 15,201,936 voters as on May 7 — an increase of 885,483 electors in comparison to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
To be sure, the number of voters includes people who applied to be enrolled in the electoral roll till April 26. The application process is still open, but those who applied after the cut-off date can only cast their votes in future elections, and will not be eligible to cast their votes in the May 25 polls.
The voters include 8,212,794 males, and 6,987,914 females, translating to a gender ratio of 851 — much better than the gender ratio of 818 in the 2019 elections, the data revealed.
Another 1,228 electors are from the third gender, an increase from 669 in the previous polls.
While the CEO did not share data on the number of deletions from the electoral list, he noted that 252,038 people are first-time voters aged 18-19 years. He also stated that around 5,500 senior citizens have registered for voting from home, and such voters will be voting through the laid-down procedure before May 25.
“A notable surge in first-time voters has been witnessed, with 2,52,038 new voters added, marking the highest figure in the past five years… Moreover, there has been a commendable improvement in the gender ratio, witnessing a 33-point increase from 818 to 851 within the last five years. Efforts to include transgender and third-gender voters have been fruitful, with the voter count rising from 669 to 1228 since the last general election,” Krishnamurthy said.
“We focused on increasing the number of first-time voters, bridging the gender gap in electoral roll, the number of transgender voters has also increased. Almost all the election arrangements have been completed, we have 13,637 polling stations. We will be deploying over 100,000 polling personnel including volunteers,” he said.
According to the CEO, the voting will take place across 13,637 polling stations at 2,627 locations spread across the seven Lok Sabha constituencies of the Capital. “A maximum of 1,800 eligible voters are linked to a polling station. In polling stations where the maximum number of eligible voters is over 1,800, additional auxiliary polling station has been set up. A total of four auxiliary polling stations have been set up across the capital,” said Krishnamurthy.
The poll panel said that among the 2,627 polling locations, 70 pink booths will also be set up, which will be handled by women officials only. Along with this, 70 model polling booths will be set up.
“With a total of 8,000 volunteers, arrangements have been made for pick-up and drop-off facilities for differently-abled and senior citizen voters, and there will be 3500 wheelchairs at the polling stations to facilitate their participation in the electoral process,” the CEO said.
The data revealed that New Delhi is the smallest constituency in terms of number of electors, with only 1.52 million voters, while West Delhi with 2.58 million electors is the largest among the seven seats. West Delhi has 46,987 first-time voters, as compared to only 22494 first time electors in New Delhi, the lowest among seven constituencies.
The CEO said that the poll panel is fully prepared for the smooth and fair conduct of polls for which extensive security measures are in place.
“The poll proceedings in 6,800 polling stations will be live-streamed. The live stream will be available to the poll officials for monitoring and ensuring the conduct of smooth elections. 6,833 polling stations will undergo direct monitoring by the Chief Election Officer’s office and District Election Officers through a webcast, ensuring transparency and accountability in the electoral process,” said Krishnamurthy.
“Additionally, 46 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, 78,578 Delhi Police personnel, and 19,000 Home Guards will be deployed for extensive security arrangements across all polling stations in Delhi,” he added.
Krishnamurthy said that arrangements are in place for possible heatwave conditions on the day of polling.
“Heat wave conditions have been predicted during elections… We held meetings with all stakeholders, including MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi), Delhi Jal Board, and other agencies. In anticipation of possible heat waves on the day of voting, adequate arrangements have been made to ensure the comfort and safety of voters, so that no voter feels any kind of discomfort due to projected heatwave conditions on the polling day. We have directed the stakeholders concerned to equip every polling station with safe drinking water and properly shaded waiting areas with air coolers, essential medical kits, and supplies,” the CEO said.
“We have also directed the urban local bodies and health department to provide the requisite paramedical staff equipped with essential medicines, including ORS, at each polling location in the capital on the day of polling. We urge the eligible voters to turn out in large numbers to participate in the elections,” he added.
