MillenniumPost
Bengal

Special arrangements for elderly, differently abled & Covid patients

Kolkata: The postal ballot that will be sent to the residence of specific categories of people who will give voting consent from their respective homes will have photograph along with the symbol of the polling candidates of all contesting political party so that they are at absolute ease while selecting the candidate of

their choice.

Election Commission as part of its COVID management is allowing three categories of people —people who are above 80 years, people who are suffering from COVID or in quarantine and people who are physically challenged to vote in postal ballots from their homes. The arrangement has been made keeping in mind the inability of such people to turn up at the polling booths.

The ballots used for service voters bear the photograph of the candidate but this is for the first time when ballots for special category voters too will bear the same.

"We already have the list of octogenarians and persons with disabilities (PWD). The District Electoral Officers (DEOs) will soon start sending election related officials door to door with form 12 D to get consent from these categories of people who will be interested to vote from their residences.

The election officials assigned with this specific job will be carrying postal ballots to the doorstep of these voters 2 to 7 days in advance depending upon the respective phases of elections in those areas.

The voters will seal the ballot paper and return it to the concerned official. The entire process will be videographed to ensure transparency. The polling personnels will be going door to door twice for this purpose if the voter is not present for any reason during their first visit," said an official. The Commission will take at least two days for readying such ballot papers after the candidate list for each political party is finalised. In each phase there is usually a gap of a fortnight between the last date of withdrawal of nominations and the day of election.

However, people belonging to these categories can also turn up at their respective polling booths and cast

their votes.

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