delhi

Updated: Jan 06, 2020 18:27 IST

The Election Commission on Monday announced the schedule for Delhi Assembly election. The single-phased election will be held on February 8, 2020, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said. The counting of votes will take place on February 11, 2020, he further said.

The notification for the Delhi elections will be out on January 14, and the last day of filing nomination is January 22. The last date for candidates to withdraw their names is January 24, CEC Arora said. The entire election exercise will be completed by February 12, 2020.

But apart from the bitter contest between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, what Delhi elections will be known for is the use of technology. Delhi will be the first state/union territory in the country to provide a QR code on the voter slip to facilitate electors and speed up their identification.

The QR code will be used for booth app, the technology the poll panel is using in Delhi election for the first time.

What is QR code?

Abbreviated form of Quick Response code, the machine-readable code contains information about the item it is attached to. It is a two-dimensional bar code first designed in early 1990s. In the beginning, there were machines to read these code and display information about the product. Mobile phones nowadays are capable of using these codes, and the election commission is planning to make use of this technology. It also means that voters will be allowed to carry their mobile phones to the polling station.

How will QR code help in Delhi elections?

The voters will be able to download QR code from the voters’ helpline app if they forget to carry the voter slip. The QR code can then be scanned and the voters allowed to cast their votes. Their mobile phone, however, will be deposited after scanning of the QR code and they can cast their vote at the booth. Locker facility for the phones will be provided at the polling booths, CEC Arora said on Monday.

A total of 1.46 crore voters can exercise their franchise in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, according to the final electoral list for Delhi published on Monday. The Election Commission said that 90,000 officials will be deployed for successful completion of polls.

Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is eyeing a second term, and has rolled out freebies like free ride for women in DTC and cluster buses, free electricity for consumption upto 200 units, and a host of other measures.

Congress has also announced that if it comes to power then it will give relief to people consuming up to 600 units of electricity. The BJP is trying to woo Purvanchali vote bank by the help of actor and singer turned politician Manoj Tiwari while it also has leaders like Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Parvesh Varma as its strong pillars.

The term of the 70-member Delhi Assembly is ending on February 22 and a new House has to be constituted before that.