LS polls: Home voting facility for senior citizens and differently-abled voters

Jaipur: For the first time in Rajasthan during the Lok Sabha elections, the home voting facility is being extended to senior citizens above 85 years of age and differently-abled voters with over 40 per cent disability.

According to an official statement, presently, the registration of eligible voters willing for home voting is being done by the Booth Level Officers (BLO) and this process will continue till March 26 for the first phase of Lok Sabha polling in the state.

Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken this initiative of inclusive elections. This innovation of home voting was successfully implemented in Rajasthan recently during the Assembly elections 2023.

During this, approximately 99 per cent of the 61,022 eligible registered voters availed the facility of voting from their homes. Now, this facility is being extended during the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Gupta said that this facility is optional. As per instructions of the ECI, lists of eligible home voters are updated till the names of the candidates for the Lok Sabha constituencies are finalised by the BLOs.

Thereafter, door-to-door voting is done through postal ballot. For the first phase of Lok Sabha voting, presently, the BLOs are going door-to-door and providing information regarding home voting.

To avail the facility, eligible voters have to apply through Form 12-D to the BLO. This registration process has already started for the first phase of voting and will continue till March 26.

Gupta said that after registration of voters opting for the home voting facility, their lists would be made available to all recognised political parties and candidates by April 1. The formation of special polling teams, their training and other processes will be completed by April 4.

The polling for home voting will start from April 5 and continue till April 14 in the presence of representatives of political parties, candidates and election observers.

If for some reason, the voter is not available or could not vote in the first round, the polling teams would make a second visit for home voting between April 15 and 16.