Unless you have been living under a rock, you would know about the ongoing 2024 General Election. Chances are you are also actively following the news to see if your favoured party/ politician is winning/ losing.
But an election is meaningless without its voters. As a bona-fide citizen of India, it’s our duty & right to vote. We lose our right to criticise/ question the government if we do not go out to vote. A high voter turnout is an accurate indicator of the electorate’s mood.
To ensure a high voter turnout for the 2024 Election, the Election Commission of India (ECI) set up 80 polling booths in high-rises across the Gautam Buddha Nagar district. One such booth was at our AOH clubhouse, a move that was welcomed by Hamletians for the convenience it brought.
The AOH AOA BOM worked with the ECI for the last many months to bring this to fruition. On Friday, 26 April, residents began to queue up at the clubhouse well before 7 AM, the official time for polling to start.
It was a hot day. As I stood in the queue, I marvelled at the convenience I was being provided – a shaded area to wait in, an AC room to cast my vote, just walking down to the booth in my chappals… I contrasted this with my past voting experience – driving to the nearby public school, standing in the summer Sun with dust devils around me & sweating buckets!
There was, of course, the convenience of taking the golf cart to go to the clubhouse as well as a provision for chairs & wheelchairs. In fact, I was glad for the booth – level officials too. Compared to a regular booth, ours was no less than a luxury, thanks to the amenities our AOA BOM had arranged for them.
This move by the ECI certainly showed results when we closed the day with a turnout percentage of 67% (compared to 54% in GB Nagar overall). It clearly encouraged more Hamletians to participate in the electoral process.
Having a polling booth within AOH brought relief to many of us. Seeing the elderly come forward to do their duty filled me with admiration for their sense of responsibility and gratitude for all those who made this convenience possible!
Doorstep voting works! I hope ECI has noted this & will continue it in the future.
