Voters turned away for carrying mobile phones

A number of voters in various parts of East and North East districts of the national capital were turned away from the polling booths as they carried their mobile phones with them.

The voters said they were disappointed as they had to go back to their homes to keep their mobile phones as there were no arrangement for keeping phones in majority of the polling stations.

"I had to come to the polling station for the second time as I was not allowed to enter the premises with a mobile phone. No prior information regarding this had been given to us," said a voter at Trilokpuri.

Many of the voters were not aware that mobile phones were prohibited inside the polling stations.

"No one told us about this and we also do not know how to use a computer if the information was on website," a voter said.

Very few polling stations had arrangements of keeping mobile phones.

A policeman outside a polling station said, "We are aware that people are facing problems, but we are just following orders. This is the first time such a restriction has been imposed as security remains a major concern this election."

However, Delhi's Chief Electoral office claimed that they had given clear instructions to the voters about mobile phones being not allowed inside the polling stations through the Commission's website.

"We had given clear instructions on our website as on what articles can or cannot be taken inside a polling station. We had also issued directions of the same through printed advertisements. There should not have not been any confusion," Special Chief Electoral Officer Shurbir Singh said.