(Image source from: Delhi braces for Lok Sabha Polls 2014)

After Tripura and Assam registering 85% and 78% turnout in the first day of the first phase of the ongoing parliament elections 2014, it's time for the national capital to cast its ballot.

But when  New Delhi goes into polls this Thursday, the voters will have to leave their mobile phones behind.

Going by the past debacle of the Voter Assistance Booths (VABs), where the voters were asked to deposit their phones, the Election Commission has decided to do away with the facility altogether and urged the voters to keep their phones behind.

But all is not bad news for the Delhites. In a more positive development and in a bid to encourage bigger turnouts at the polling stations, the Delhi Electoral office has announced that those registered voters without ID card (Elector’s Photo Identity Card or EPIC) or voter-slips can cast their votes using alternative Identity documents.

Nearly seven lakh new voters have been added to the list since 31 January, which explains why many voters haven't yet received their EPIC card.

“We have received a number of calls from voters about not having an EPIC card or not having received their voter slips. They need not fear. On the basis of alternate documents card they can cast their vote. We have approved a list of 16 alternated photo IDs including, passport, driver’s license and office ID proof which voters can use to cast their vote,” said the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) AK Srivastava.

Special arrangements have been made at the booths for differently-abled people.

Spurred by the voters' response towards 'model polling stations' initiative in Delhi assembly elections, the Delhi Electoral office has decided to boost the initiative for the Lok Sabha polls.

A total of seventy such model polling booths have been set up in each assembly constituency. Of the 12,010 polling stations in Delhi, 407 had been declared as 'sensitive' and 90 as 'hyper-sensitive' by the Delhi police.

Additional security reinforcements by the paramilitary will be deployed in these polling booths. Not just that, the EC has declared the booths as a smoking-free zone this time.

AW: Suchorita Choudhury