EC hopes record voter turnout in Delhi polls

The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday said that all necessary precautions have been taken for tomorrow's elections here, and hoped for a peaceful electoral process marked by an unprecedented voter turnout.

"We are expecting a large voter turnout, and we hope that the election process is peaceful and marked by an unprecedented voter turnout. All preparations for the elections have been done, and we are ensuring that tomorrow's elections are conducted in a free and fair way," Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev told media here today.

He further said that certain preventive action has been taken against anti-social elements ahead of the polling process.

"As of yesterday, action has been taken against 570 people. 48 non-bailable warrants have been executed, and we are continuously taking action against misuse of liquor,' he said.

Dev said that 107 companies of Central Paramilitary Forces have been deployed apart from Delhi Police.

He also said that an SMS based service has been introduced for the first time to obtain the polling percentage.

"Tomorrow, we will get the polling percentage figure in two ways-first through the traditional system from sector officers, and second through the SMS based service which has been introduced for the first time, which will be a more time efficient system," he added.

Dev also said that several arrangements have been made to ensure smooth polling in critical and hyper critical stations.

"In critical and hyper critical polling stations, for smooth polling to take place, we have made several arrangements. Central Paramilitary Forces have been deployed," he said.

"Apart from this, depending on the requirements, either through deployment of micro observers or through CCTV cameras or through live web casting, we are ensuring that critical and hyper critical polling stations are taken care of," he added.

Delhi, which is presently under Congress' rule, will vote on December 4, and the results will be announced on December 8.