Tuesday, 15 February 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
Several first time voters in Dehradun shared their whole experience from selecting a candidate in their respective assembly constituencies to visiting polling booths to cast their vote for the first time on Monday in the Assembly elections. According to 19-year-old Sandhya Rawat from Raipur assembly constituency, she was quite excited to cast her first vote not just on the polling day but since the day she got her voter identity card six months ago. “I was excited to use the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) for the first time but got really nervous while casting the vote. I have been flaunting my inked finger since I left the booth and I am proud of it that I contributed to the state’s future.”
Another first time voter, 21-year-old Rishabh Rana from Old Dalanwala, said that he arrived in the polling booth 40 minutes earlier in the morning to cast the vote sooner than others. He said that issues like unemployment and poor education are important and he voted considering these points. “I believe in being a responsible voter and I did my own thinking and research before casting a vote to a specific candidate rather than asking my parents who they are voting for. I prefer candidates of the assembly seat rather than a political party and took it into consideration too before casting my first vote,” said Rana. First time voter, 20-year-old Kavita Bisht, who exercised her voting right at the model polling booth set up in St Thomas school, said that she along with her 19-year-old brother Prateek arrived in the booth to cast their vote but were glad to see no long queues. She said, “We were a tad bit sceptical to go to the booth to cast vote amid the Covid-19 pandemic but there was enough space to sit and stand while maintaining proper physical distance. I have grown up listening to complaints from adults how polling booths remain crowded but our experience was good.”
