For the first time, over 2.6K cast their votes before polling day
New Delhi: As Delhiites prepare to cast their votes for the formation of the next Legislative Assembly of the Capital, there are some who have already exercised their democratic right, thanks to the Election Commission of India. According to the poll regulatory authority, around 2,600 citizens have already voted from their homes through postal ballots — a facility provided by the ECI for the first time ever. Senior Citizens above the age of 80 and persons with disability (PwD) availed this facility where mobile teams of the ECI conducted the voting process at the voters' residence.
The Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, Ranbir Singh told Millennium Post that 501 PwD voters and 2,416 senior citizens above the age of 80 had availed the facility of voting through postal ballot from their homes. Singh said that of these, 92 per cent had already cast their votes. "See, our objective is to make the election process inclusive and accessible. Ordinarily, we would like PwD voters to also come to the polling station," he said, adding that this facility has been introduced for voters who are not in a physical condition to visit the polling booths.
The CEO office said that voters were given the option of filling up Form 12B to apply for postal ballots from the date of notification till January 20. Singh said these voters applied for postal ballots by calling the 1950 helpline and that 501 voters out of a total of 50,471 PwD voters were given the facility and our mobile teams visited their resident twice to verify addresses. The Delhi CEO added, "Some of the voters were not found even on the second visit so they were unable to vote. But that is a very small proportion."
Moreover, the Election Commission has made sure that all polling stations have ramps, wheelchairs, volunteers, braille facility and sign language interpreters to make it easy for PwD voters. "PwD voters should not face difficulty in coming to vote at the polling station because we would like the voting process to be inclusive," Singh said.
The CEO office also said that a pick and drop facility has been put in place for senior citizens and PwD voters to help them reach their polling stations. "We had opened bookings for this service from January 25 and anyone who wishes to avail this can call the 1950 helpline," The Delhi CEO said, adding that as of Thursday around 650 voters had booked this service, much like Delhi's oldest voter, 110-year-old Kalitara Mandal from Chittaranjan Park.
Singh said that the poll regulatory body has always prioritised making the entire election process — from registration to voting — as accessible and inclusive as possible. "So, we are always working on finding new ways to achieve this objective," he said.
