BHARAT BALLOT 2009: DELHI POLLS PEACEFUL, VOTER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 000944

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL PINR KDEM IN
SUBJECT: BHARAT BALLOT 2009: DELHI POLLS PEACEFUL, VOTER
TURNOUT HIGHER THAN EXPECTED


1. (SBU) Summary: On May 7, the fourth phase of the election,
PolOff and PolFSN visited several polling sites in three of
the seven parliamentary districts in the Delhi Capital
Territory (DCT). The voting process for the average voter
seems to be orderly and well-established. Election day passed
quietly with voters trickling to the polls throughout the
day. The DCT's seven districts averaged a 53% turnout, with
some of the urban middle class areas turning in much higher
rates than expected.

Delhi Polls Quiet
--------------


2. (SBU) All of the neighborhoods we visited were quiet, even
the neighborhood around the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque
in India in a district that the Election Commission
designated as particularly sensitive because of the mix of a
large Muslim population combined with a strong base of
support for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party
among the Jain and merchant community. Most businesses were
shuttered under the mandatory rules for giving employees time
off to vote. The Times of India reported that 53% of Delhi's
electorate turned out to exercise their franchise, six
percent higher than in the 2004 election. Contrary to
traditional stereotypes, some of the highest voter
participation rates were in the more urban, middle class
districts, not the rural areas of the DCT. This change was
probably due to Delhi's voter awareness campaign.


3. (SBU) At several of the polling sites we visited, the set
up was the same: a local school was used for the polling
station, a few people trickling in and out, a tented
assistance table for the Election Commission, and a Congress
party table and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) table set up
outside of 100 meters from the polling booth. Occasionally
other parties would also set up tables. The tables usually
had a small group of voters hanging about talking to the
party workers. Some polling stations that were considered
more sensitive had an obvious police presence, complete with
police officers checking IDs at the gates to the school,
barriers closing off or limiting traffic, and other officers
posted in the vicinity armed with lathis, long wooden sticks
used for crowd control.

Voting Process Multi-Step
--------------


4. (SBU) At the school-turned-polling station we visited in a
well-to-do neighborhood of high rises in West Delhi, security
was lax and PolOff was allowed to enter unchallenged with
POlFSN who had voted there earlier that morning. The school's
ground floor classrooms were designated as polling booths for
distinct neighborhoods. For example, the classroom we saw was
designated to handle 1227 voters that day, according to the
sign posted outside it. A list of the candidates, their party
affiliation, and the party symbol were posted outside of each
classroom. The party symbol is key because a high percentage
of Indian voters cannot read. Poll workers check each
person's ID, cross them off the voter list, and then mark the
voter's finger with ink in an effort to prevent the voter
from casting more than one ballot. In the classroom we saw,
the voter would then use the lone electronic voting machine
set on a small table in a corner and screened by what looked
like a piece of cardboard only a couple of feet high and
around three feet across. Nevertheless, it was enough to keep
the voter's selection private.


5. (SBU) The Election Commission manages voter assistance
tables outside each polling station and some parties do as
well, although the party-sponsored tables have to be set up
100 meters or more from the polling station. Upon visiting
one of these tables, we saw that the process of determining
which polling booth/classroom within the polling station a
voter should use can be somewhat complicated in a high
population density urban area such as Delhi. Each voter is

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assigned to a polling booth according to the voter
registration number listed on his/her voter identification
card. One man showed us his card; it included his name,
picture, and listed other details such as his father's name.
If the voter does not have the ID card, he/she can still vote
if they can produce some form of official identification, but
the identification of the registration number and polling
booth takes a longer time. First the voter number is found on
the voter registration lists using the address provided. Then
another list is consulted to find the assigned polling booth.
The staff then give the voter a slip of paper with the
information so they can go vote.


6. (SBU) Comment: The Election Commission over time appears
to have refined the Indian election process to a fine art to
ensure free and fair elections -- at least in Delhi, Poloff
saw no opportunity for any corruption in the voting process.
The higher than expected voter turnout in Delhi indicates
that the voter awareness campaigns by the government and some
private organizations have been successful and deflated some
myths about the cynicism of the urban middle class. The
democratic process in the DCT seems to have gone off
relatively smoothly and peacefully.
BURLEIGH