New Delhi: Twelve COVID-positive people were identified from two municipal wards in Delhi as eligible voters for the civic bypolls held on Sunday, but none of them cast their ballots, officials said. The Sunday bypolls to the five wards, the first electoral exercise that was conducted in the national capital amid the Coronavirus pandemic, saw an overall turnout of 50.86 per cent.
The officials had earlier said that COVID-19 patients could vote during the last hour of polling as per the government guidelines. The scheduled duration of the polling was from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. So, COVID-positive patients could come and vote from 4:30 pm-5:30 pm, a senior official of the State Election Commission here said.
"Twelve positive persons were identified from two wards, 10 from Shalimar Bagh North in NDMC area and two from Kalyanpuri ward in EDMC. However, none of them came to cast their votes," he said.
As voting is a fundamental right, so the Election Commission has made this provision, the official said. According to the State Election Commission, around 2.42 lakh people were eligible to cast their votes in two wards under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and three wards under the East Delhi Municipal Corporation.
Meanwhile, a day after being issued a notice by the State Election Commission over an advertisement, a senior Delhi government official was on Sunday transferred to the trade and taxes department, an official order said.