Page 3 - Voting

International Women's Day: Centre, states unveil women-focused schemes

The Delhi government is slated to flag off Mahila Samriddhi Yojana while the Maharashtra Assembly will hold a day long special discussion on women's issues on Saturday to mark IWD

Duplication of voter card numbers does not indicate fake voters: EC

Amid reports flagging issuance of identical voter card numbers to electors in two different states, the Election Commission on Sunday said duplicate numbers do not necessarily imply fake voters. It also said that while elector photo identity card (EPIC) numbers of some of the voters "may be identical", the other details including demographic details, assembly constituency and polling booth are different. "Irrespective of the EPIC number, any elector can cast a vote only at their designated polling station in their respective constituency in their state or union territory where they are enrolled in the electoral roll and nowhere else," the poll panel said. It explained that identical EPIC numbers or series were allotted to some electors from different states and union territories due to a "decentralised and manual mechanism" being followed prior to shifting of the electoral roll database of all states to the ERONET platform. This resulted in certain state chief electoral officers us

USAID funded 7 projects worth $750 mn in India in FY24: FinMin report

Amid a raging political controversy over USAID's alleged role in influencing Indian elections, the latest annual report of the finance ministry has disclosed that the agency funded seven projects worth USD 750 million in 2023-24. "Currently, seven projects worth a total budget of USD 750 million (approx.) are being implemented by USAID in partnership with Government of India," as per the Finance Ministry annual report for 2023-24. For the financial year 2023-24, an obligation of a total of USD 97 million (about Rs 825 crore) has been made by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under the seven projects, it said. The Department of Economic Affairs under the Finance Ministry which is the nodal department for bilateral funding arrangements has also shared the details of projects funded in 2023-24 in the report. During the year, no funding was made for enhancing voter turnout but to projects related to agriculture & food security programme; water, sanitation and hygiene

AAP vs EC on Form 17C: Kejriwal launches website for 'voting transparency'

AAP and election commission clash over Form 17C transparency on election eve. What is Form 17C

Delhi Assembly Election Highlights: Voting concludes; 57.7% voter turnout recorded till 5 pm

Delhi Assembly elections 2025 voting updates: Polling day concluded with an unimpressive voter turnout. Results will be declared on Feb 8

Delhi Assembly elections 2025: 57.7% voter turnout recorded till 5 pm

Delhi Assembly elections 2025: Mustafabad reported the highest voter participation at 66.68%, whereas Karol Bagh saw the lowest at 47.40%

Delhi polls: 46.55% voter turnout till 3 pm, Mustafabad records max 56.12%

A voter turnout of 46.55 per cent was recorded till 3 pm on Wednesday in Delhi, where polling is underway for its 70 assembly constituencies. Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. According to Election Commission (EC) data, 46.55 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise till 3 pm. There are around 1.56 crore eligible voters in Delhi. The highest turnout was recorded in the Northeast district at 52.73 per cent while the New Delhi district recorded the lowest at 43.10 per cent. Among the constituencies, Mustafabad had the highest turnout at 56.12 per cent while Karol Bagh recorded the lowest at 39.05 per cent. Central Delhi district recorded a turnout of 43.45 per cent, East Delhi 47.09 per cent, North Delhi 46.31 per cent, Northwest Delhi 46.81 per cent, Shahdara 49.58 per cent, South Delhi 44.89 per cent, Southeast Delhi 43.91 per cent, Southwest Delhi 48.32 per cent, and West Delhi 45.06 per cent, according to the EC data. Polling is underway at 13,766

2 Delhi CM office staff held with ₹5 lakh cash ahead of Assembly polls

Delhi Assembly elections: The voting for 70 Assembly constituencies started at 7 am on Wednesday, and the polling results will be declared on February 8

To boost voter turnout, Delhi shops, salons to offer special discounts

With the Delhi Assembly elections just a day away, the Chamber of Trades and Industries (CTI) has announced that salons and beauty parlours across the city will offer discounts ranging from 20 to 50 per cent to people who cast their vote. Apart from salons, various businesses, including shops, restaurants, hotels, malls, coffee shops, and dhabas, will also offer discounts between 10 per cent and 50 per cent to customers who vote. In a statement on Tuesday, CTI stated that around 500 salons and beauty parlours will provide these discounts on February 6, the day after voting. "The initiative aims to boost voter turnout in Delhi, where elections for 70 assembly seats are scheduled for February 5," it added. CTI Chairman Brijesh Goyal emphasised that this effort is meant to ensure a high voting percentage. "This initiative will encourage more people to cast their vote on February 5 and the voting percentage will increase," said Goyal. He said that more than 500 salon owners and makeup

Delhi elections 2025: How to search and download voter slip on mobile phone

The voter information slip (VIS), commonly known as the voter slip, contains information about an eligible voter, including their name, age, gender, assembly constituency, and polling station details

Most Gen Z voters in Delhi aware of candidates, rely on social media: Study

Most GenZ voters in Delhi are aware of candidates in their constituencies, and women safety, unemployment and pollution are the main pressing issues for them, a study has found. Around 74 per cent of respondents believe that freebies matter and influence votes around the elections, according to the study that was conducted to find how Delhi's youth engages with democracy. "Seven in 10 GenZers turn up to vote consistently, with 71 per cent having participated in past elections. 88 per cent are aware of the candidates from their constituency," the study report said, adding that Delhi's young voters, aged 18-26 years, are aware, active and engaged around state polls. The study, GenZer'sTryst with Polls, revealed that Women Safety (85 per cent) in the city is a top priority, followed by Unemployment (60 per cent) and Pollution (56 per cent) among poll issues for GenZ voters. Around 44 per cent consider Delhi's Law and Order to be poor. Around 35 per cent of them consider social media a

Will Budget tax relief help BJP energise Delhi's middle class voters?

Banking on the Budget's tax relief, the BJP seeks to energise Delhi's middle class; the AAP is doing its bit too. But will their outreach mobilise this politically crucial yet disengaged electorate?

India nears 1 bn voters, with youth, women driving electoral growth: EC

The number of voters in India now stands at 99.1 crore, up from 96.88 crore when the Lok Sabha elections were held last year, the Election Commission (EC) said on Wednesday. In a statement issued ahead of National Voters' Day, the EC said the electoral rolls bear a youthful and gender-balanced look with 21.7 crore young electors in the 18-29 age group and a six-point increase in electoral gender ratio from 948 in 2024 to 954 in 2025. National Voters' Day is celebrated on January 25 every year to mark the foundation day of the EC, which was established on this day in 1950. Addressing a press conference here on January 7 to announce the Delhi assembly poll schedule, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said India would soon create a new record of one billion-plus voters. "Electoral rolls were released yesterday (January 6). We are crossing 99 crore voters... We are going to be a nation of one billion voters very soon, which will be another record in voting," he said. "After

Parties get creative with merchandise to woo Delhi voters ahead of polls

Delhi is in the midst of an intense election season and political workers are flaunting their allegiances, sporting creatively designed merchandise with quirky catchphrases and one-liners to attract voters's imagination. The Aam Aadmi Party, the BJP, the Congress and other smaller players, all are trying to outdo each other as merchandise messaging gets sharper, wittier and personal in appeal. There are winter-friendly hoodies and colorful stoles, t-shirts and scarfs, funky sunglasses and key chains, custom-made car flags and cutouts, pens and posters, and even mousepads. Anything that can be leveraged is being leveraged. "These unique items, adorned with party logos and slogans, are not just tools of promotion but also a way to engage supporters in a more personal and vibrant manner," said a leader. The Aam Aadmi Party's hoodies and stoles come in their signature blue and yellow. "These feature the face of party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on the front and the party logo

Bangladesh CEC says 180 million people denied their voting rights

Bangladesh's Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin on Sunday said that almost 180 million people have been denied their voting rights and the Election Commission wants to end their deprivation, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. The CEC, while addressing the inaugural ceremony of a training programme for election officers ahead of a voter list updating exercise, said the Election Commission (EC) wants to remove the fact that the people have been deprived of the voting right for so long. We want to remove the pain of their deprivation. We are steadfast in our commitment, he said. The countrywide door-to-door data collection for updating the list of possible voters will start on January 20. The CEC said they are here to hear the 180 million people who have been suffering from the deprivation of voting rights. We've taken the responsibility so that we can remove their deprivation, he said. He said the commission's main goal is to arrange a fair and credible election.

Delhi elections: Here's how you can vote even if you don't have a voter ID

Eligible voters in India can still cast their vote without a physical voter ID card by presenting one of 12 alternative documents, provided their name is on the electoral roll

Voter ID alone doesn't ensure voting rights: Delhi chief electoral officer

Delhi's Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls nears completion and the final voter list will be published on January 6, 2025

EC data on LS polls: Women outshine men again in exercising franchise

As many as 64.64 crore voters exercised their franchise in the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year with women voters outnumbering men, according to statistical data released by the Election Commission on Thursday. The female voter turnout stood at 65.78 per cent as compared to 65.55 per cent for male electors, the EC said. EC functionaries asserted that such granular data is not shared by any of the election management bodies in democracies across the world. The data on Lok Sabha polls, 2024 and four assembly elections -- Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh -- held alongside parliamentary polls comes against the backdrop of allegations of non-disclosure by the EC. "This suo motu initiative is to enhance the public trust that constitutes the underpinning of India's electoral system," the EC said. Referring to women participation in the polls, EC said the number of female contesting candidates was 800, compared to 726 in 2019. Maharashtra had the highest number

Opposition stages protest against using EVM on Vidhan Bhawan steps

Opposition members staged a demonstration on the steps of the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhawan here on Monday and raised slogans against the use of EVMs in elections. The protest was held on the opening day of the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur. Leader of opposition in the state legislative council Ambadas Danve led the demonstration of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders, who called for "saving" the Constitution and democracy and opposed the use of EVMs. They raised slogans like "EVM Hatao Desh Bachao", "EVM Hatao Constitution Bachao" and "EVM Hatao Democracy Bachao". Danve was joined by Congress legislators Vijay Wadettiwar, Nitin Raut, Bhai Jagtap and Vikas Thakre, Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Bhaskar Jadhav, Varun Desai and Sachin Ahir, and NCP (SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad. Talking to reporters, Danve claimed the Electronic Voting Machines were "dangerous" for democracy and that people were opposing the use of EVMs in elections. "We think the EVMs should be remov

Post-election power struggles spark concerns over democracy across US

While the election was over a month ago, voters in some parts of the country are discovering that having their say at the ballot box is not necessarily the final word. Lawmakers in several states have already initiated or indicated plans to alter or nullify certain results. Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are moving to undercut the authority of the incoming Democratic governor, Republicans in Missouri are taking initial steps to reverse voter-approved abortion protections, and Democrats in Massachusetts are watering down an attempt by voters to hold the Legislature more accountable. The actions following the Nov. 5 election continue a pattern that has accelerated in recent years and has been characterized by critics as undemocratic. I think certainly when you're a voter and you're voting on the issue, you're not thinking about whether someone's then going to overturn or just ignore the things that you voted on, said Anne Whitesell, an assistant professor of political science