LS polls: Delhi to have 19 'pink booths'

As many as 19 pink booths -- staffed only by women -- will be established for the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, officials said. Polling in the national capital, which has seven parliamentary constituencies, is due on May 12. The first-phase of the election was held Thursday.

A total of 13,816 polling stations will be established at 2,696 locations in Delhi, with a model polling station in each of the 70 assembly constituencies. The establishment of pink booths would be a first for the city during elections. 'pink polling booths' have been used in other elections, such as the Karnataka polls last year.

Delhi's chief electoral officer (CEO) Ranbir Singh had said areas were being identified in the city for this purpose. "Some of the polling stations will be manned completely by women. The purpose of this exercise to showcase their abilities and engender a sense of woman empowerment," he had said.

There are over 1.41 crore voters on Delhi's electoral roll. Out of the total electorate size of 1,41,55,732 as many as 77,90,211 are male and 63,64,831 female, while 690 belong to third gender. These special booths have all-women staff, including presiding officers, polling officers, micro observers and security personnel.

Such booths are aimed at empowering women and increasing their participation in the electoral process, officials said. One polling booth (in north-east district) will be completely staffed by persons with disabilities, while the Leprosy Home Complex at Tahirpur in north-east district will have a booth for persons with disabilities only, the Delhi CEO Office said.

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