Haryana assembly poll: In a first, Badshahpur voters will get tokens to shorten queues at polling booths

In Gurugram, around 4,000 voting machines will be in place for the Haryana assembly elections, including control, ballot units and the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT).

There will be two machines at each polling booth in Gurgaon assembly constituency—one machine will have the name of 16 candidates while the second machine will have the NOTA option, Gurugram deputy commissioner Amit Khatri said while addressing a press conference on Monday. He added that to shorten the queue at polling booths, for the first time, tokens will be given to voters at some booths in Badshahpur constituency. Badshahpur is the only constituency in Gurugram for a pilot run. Fifty new polling booths have been added in the city, taking the number of booths to 1,172 from 1,122.

The number of booths have increased to 1,172 from 1,122 in Gurgaon for Haryana assembly elections 2019. (AP photo)

“Voters will be given a token to await their turn at a booth to cast their vote. They need not stand in a queue. Waiting halls will be made, when the token number appears on the screen, the person can go and vote. It has not been decided how many booths in Badshahpur constituency will have this facility.” This type of facility was introduced in Hamirpur constituency in Himachal Pradesh during the Lok Sabha elections. In Haryana, token-based counting will be seen in Gurugram, Hisar, and Faridabad during the assembly polls.

In Gurugram, around 4,000 voting machines will be in place for the elections, including control, ballot units and the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT). “We had observed in the last elections that there were long queues in some booths. This year, 50 new auxiliary booths have been approved. Last time we had 1,122 booths—the number has gone up to 1,172. Our objective is that voters should not face any hassle at the booths,” Khatri added.

There will be 54 candidates in the fray in the district —16 from Gurgaon, 11 from Pataudi, 15 from Badshahpur, and 12 from Sohna. “In Gurgaon, there will be two machines for voters in each booth. One machine will have the name of 16 candidates and the second machine will give voters the option of NOTA.” The administration also said teams to keep a close watch on the elections, when it comes to liquor monitoring and model code of conduct, have been formed.

All observers who had been appointed for the elections have joined their respective duties. Rajiv Kumar, an IAS officer from the 1997 batch, will be looking after Gurugram and Badshahpur vidhan sabha areas, and Richard Dsouza, an IAS officer from the 2007 batch, will be keeping an eye on Pataudi and Sohna vidhan sabha areas.