New Delhi: The number of polling stations has increased from 13,033 to 14,947 across 70 assembly constituencies in Delhi following a rationalisation exercise undertaken as part of an ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The number of locations of such stations has also gone up: from 2,696 to 2,856.The changes have been made after Election Commission of India (ECI) reduced the maximum number of electors assigned to each polling station from 1,500 to 1,200, with an aim to reduce overcrowding and make voting more convenient for the public.Some of the electors will be assigned different polling stations from the ones where they used to vote in previous elections. This is because those from booths with more than 1,200 voters have been shifted to adjacent or newly created ones.“Many who have been attached to new booths may face challenges locating them on the day of polling because they have been voting at a different booth for long. Election officials should formally intimate such voters about the changes so that there is no confusion,” said Karan Aggarwal, a resident of East of Kailash.A poll official said the voters will be informed through multiple channels and will be able to check the details of their new booths through ECI’s voter-information services. These details, including the names of schools, community centres or other buildings where the booths are located, will also be reflected in the electoral rolls. Voter information slips issued before polling will show the changes, too.Poll officials assessed all polling sites, and political parties suggested locations for new stations before the changes were made, the official said.The exercise was carried out factoring in an electorate of about 1.45 crore, a number that was frozen when SIR was launched in Delhi. The eventual number will be known after final electoral rolls are published on Nov 4.Among the districts, South East Delhi has the greatest number of new polling stations — 325 (from 1,239 to 1,564). Those in North East Delhi are up from 1,585 to 1,829, while South Delhi has seen an increase from 1,124 to 1,367, and South West Delhi — from 1,187 to 1,351. In West Delhi, there will be 1,543 new booths — up from 1,390. The corresponding figures in East Delhi are 1,333 and 1,543; and 1,248 and 1,403 in North West Delhi.North East Delhi has seen the number of locations of the physical stations increase by 26 (295 to 321). In West Delhi, the rise is from 298 to 316; in South East Delhi, from 233 to 264. In New Delhi and Central Delhi, the number of locations is unchanged at 87 and 140, respectively, though the number of booths has increased in both districts.
