"Roaming For 2 Hours": Delhi Voters Return After Not Finding Poll Booth

Angry and frustrated voters have alleged gross mismanagement in the conduct of polls for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Several voters at a polling booth in West Patel Nagar claimed they have been roaming for hours in search of the booth where they were supposed to cast their vote, only to be refused and guided to another room.

"I have been roaming with my child for over an hour, but still not getting a booth to vote. I am being directed to different booths. My wife cast her vote, but I couldn't. No one knows where to vote," says Kalu Ram, a voter.

Another woman, who faced a similar situation, said more than 20 members of her family had come to cast their vote, but most of them returned after not being able to locate their booth.

"We have been roaming for two hours. We are being sent to different rooms only to be told we can't cast our votes there," says a woman. "How will we vote if we can't find where to cast our votes?"

Earlier an app used to show all information regarding election but now even that is wrong as are the slips, says a young voter.

"There is no system here. Earlier there used to be a way in which elections were conducted. People are getting late for office; students are getting late for tuition. This is not the way how it should be done," she says.

"We have been directed to go to seven-eight booths in different polling stations in two hours. I desperately wanted to cast my vote but I am not able to. This is not acceptable. I am going home without voting," adds the first-time voter as she breaks into tears and leaves the polling station.

Two other elderly voters say they too have been trying to locate their booth. "We're old and can't keep walking from one place to another. We will have to return without casting our votes," adds one of them.

Such issues are arising due to voting lists being not updated, said the officials at the polling station. The correct addresses of some voters are not updated, some have not linked their Aadhaar cards, and other issues are there, they said.

Elections to 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi are currently underway. The BJP and AAP are in a contest for a greater control over the capital while the Congress hopes to win back some ground that it lost in the previous elections.