Noida: Over 300 senior citizens, disabled people vote from home

The Election Commission of India (ECI) for the first time these elections has provided the facility to vote from home for the elderly and people with disabilities

Noida: In a first, 355 persons with disabilities and elderly voters were able to vote from their homes in Gautam Budh Nagar constituency on Monday, said officer-in-charge (postal ballot and electronically transmitted postal ballot system) and chief veterinary officer Dr VK Agrawal.

In the Noida assembly constituency, 4,288 senior citizen (above 85 years) voters and 4,453 disabled voters were identified by the administration. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

The Election Commission of India (ECI) for the first time these elections has provided the facility to vote from home for the elderly and people with disabilities (40% benchmark disability). The district goes to polls on April 26 .

“Voting was conducted by a polling team from 7am to 6pm. All teams will again conduct vote from home for these categories of voters on April 16 from 7am to 6pm. Collection of the ballot paper is expected to go on till tomorrow (Tuesday) and officers are busy ensuring that there are no mistakes in this maiden process,” Agarwal said.

There are more than 20,000 voters belonging to the two categories. Of them, 424 opted to vote and 355 voted today. In the Noida assembly constituency, 4,288 senior citizen (above 85 years) voters and 4,453 disabled voters were identified by the administration.

Dadri has 4,034 senior citizen voters and 3,864 disabled voters and Jewar has 3,144 senior citizen voters and 2,335 disabled voters.

The EC aims to make voting easier for elderly citizens and persons with disabilities.

Officials said for the exercise, eight teams for Noida, three teams for Dadri, and nine teams for Jewar were formed and deployed across the district to conduct door-to-door voting on April 15 and April 16 from 7am to 6pm.

General Observer Simrandeep Singh, appointed by the ECI for Gautam Budh Nagar, on Monday conducted an on-site inspection of polling booths and directed officials to ensure necessary arrangements in advance.

He also observed the status of door-to-door distribution of voter slips by Booth Level Officers while stressing on the need to deliver the voter slips on time, so that the voters do not face any problem on the day of voting.