n a bid to beat low voter turnout on the polling day on May 25 due to heatwave which will be more intense than usual  in the national Capital, the Election Commision has decided to improve the facilities at the 13,641 polling booths in Delhi for making the voting process more comfortable for the voters.

This included facilities such as arrangement of shades and coolers being set up by the electoral body.

Delhi Chief Election Officer P Krishnamurthy informed that a high level meeting took place between the Commission and other stakeholders such as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMDC) and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) keeping in mind that the heatwaves on the day of polling will be more intense than usual.

“The heatwave is expected to be more intense than usual in Delhi. To ensure that there are ample facilities for the voters and this doesn’t affect the voter turnout, we had a meeting with all the stakeholders including MCD, NDMC, Delhi Jal Board, and the health department. Coolers and mist fans will be set up in waiting areas.

Cold drinking water will be made available at the polling stations. Delhi Jal Board tankers will be stationed at MCD zonal offices,” Delhi CEO P Krishnamurthy said, adding that paramedics with basic medical kit, which includes will also be present so if any situation arises, we can give them medical assistance immediately.

In a first, there will be at least one polling booth managed by people with disabilities in each of the seven parliamentary constituencies.

Further, there will be a total of 70 pink polling booths, handled by women, located at each of the ten assembly constituencies.

There are a total of 15,201,936 voters in Delhi. Briefing the press, he also said that the number of male, female and transgender voters have also seen a rise.

While in 2019 the total number of male was 78,73,022, in 2024 it stands at 82,12,794. From 64,42,762 in 2019, the total number of women stands at 69,87,914. If we look at the transgender population in Delhi, the number has almost doubled with the number reaching to 1,228 in 2024 from 669 in 2019. There are a total of 2,52,038 first time voters, he said.

With the gender ratio in the national capital improving from 818 women per 1,000 men to 851, the Delhi CEO added, this means that there will be more participation of women in the elections this time. As many as 13,637 main polling booths are set up with four auxiliary booths being made. An auxiliary booth is set up when the voter limit for the main booth, which is 1,800 exceeds.