Voting Experience in Our Society
This is an account of my experience in voting in the 2024 general election. For the first time, a polling booth was set up within our society. I am sure if this was a local, city, or country wide initiative by the Election Commission of India (ECI). In past elections, we would go to the polling booth, cast our vote, take a selfie, post it on social media, and then enjoy the holiday. However, this time was different.
The polling booth was set up within the society, which consisted of 570+ flats, and had a total vote count of 858. The Association of Apartment Owners (AOA) requested two volunteers from each tower for assistance, and I put my name forward without knowing what the roles and responsibilities would be. Two days before the election, the volunteers met and listed down the activities, with a focus on participation and trying to achieve a 100% voter turnout. Volunteers were not allowed to engage in any political campaigning or promotion.
The list of voters was printed in alphabetical order and Tower Wise, and a set was given to each tower representative. The night before the election, the volunteers set up a center in the AOA office for giving out voting slips. Volunteers went door-to-door to check if anyone had not collected their voting slip, gave it to them on the spot, and checked if anyone needed assistance. The volunteers had a fair understanding of who all would be coming to vote the next day since they knew most of the people in their tower. They also knew the reasons why some people could not vote, such as being out of town, the polling booth was at a different center, their name got deleted by ECI and they did not know in time, the voting center was in a different city/hometown, or the person was deceased. There were also some duplicate entries for various reasons.
On Voting Day, the day started early at 6 AM with coordination with officials setting up the seating area. The Society Clubhouse was the voting center. Voting started on time at 7 AM. One volunteer on the male queue and one on the female queue ticked the person going for vote. One society security person was assigned at the entry point to check mobile phones. People did not hesitate to put their phones there since they knew it was society security. Early morning walkers cast their vote and continued with their morning walk. The first 100 votes were counted in the initial 1 hour, and 400 before 12 noon. With almost no queue, people could easily come to vote and go back home in 15 minutes. For volunteers, it was also convenient to have breaks in between, go back home for short breaks, and come back. After 4 PM, the volunteers started calling people on intercom/mobile who had not come to vote and pushed them to come for voting. They targeted the magical count of 600 but could only reach 591. So the official count for their booth was 68.8%. Still, it was a big victory for all of them since many of them participated in the election process for the first time at any level. They enjoyed samosas, snacks, and sweets at the end for successful voting and hoped to get the same voting center in the future.
Regarding the Polling Process, some of the volunteers participated in the initial checks, where the EVM machine was checked with dummy votes, reset to ZERO, and then polling started. At the end of the day, the count was matched with the polling officer and party agents. The security person also had a relaxed day as everything was taken care of by the volunteers, such as queue management, mobile check, and ensuring voters carried the correct ID proof. They were provided timely tea/water, snacks, and a comfortable AC clubhouse to sit in. The Booth Level Officer (BLO) also had an easy day since the majority of voting slips were generated by the volunteers. It was easier for the volunteers to search for names since they had an English sorted list, and someone knew the voter and could quickly search. The BLO officer had a Hindi list in Hindi and sorted on serial number, so it took time. Many times the address was wrong on the voter ID, so helping the voter find the serial number was an important role. The police security was on high alert, and multiple Quick Response Teams (QRT) used to visit frequently to check if everything was alright. Enough checks and balances were there in the polling process to ensure that the chance of mistakes was very low. Doing any voting in the name of one particular candidate would require approval from multiple people inside the room and the administration. It was not impossible, but it was difficult.
