The Election Commission (EC) has deployed over 10,000 armed security personnel of Delhi Police and the Central paramilitary forces to safeguard 20,000 electronic voting machines (EVMs). Security in and around respective district returning officers have been further beefed up. All eyes are now on the counting day on Tuesday when the fate of party candidates of all the 70 Assembly seats will be decided. “It is a three-tier security for the EVMs. The machines have been kept inside the strong rooms made in nine districts,” said an official of the Election Commission. “Each strong room is guarded by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, armed police and the local police,” the official added.
The buildings housing the EVMs have been kept out of bounds for others other than the men and officers of the security forces. Proper lighting arrangements have been made to ensure no intruder sneaks in at night, said a Delhi Police official. The counting will begin at 8 am on Tuesday and it will be videographed. The party workers will be allowed at the counting centres only on counting day, he added. Delhi saw a voter turnout of 67.14 per cent on Saturday. A total of 11,763 candidates contested the elections.