Uttarakhand: Arrangements are being made to vote at home for voters aged 85+ – Additional Chief Electoral Officer

Additional Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande, while addressing a press briefing at the media center located at the Secretariat, said that arrangements are being made in the state to facilitate the voting process. Arrangements for home voting are being ensured for voters aged 85+. There are 65 thousand 160 voters in the state aged 85+. Forms were made available to all voters aged 85+, out of which 10,390 applications have been received. There are 80 thousand 330 disabled (PWD) voters in the state, out of which 5 thousand 576 voters have applied for voting through postal ballot. The last date to apply was March 25, 2024, after which the District Election Officer will provide the facility of voting through postal ballot to all these voters. In every district, teams will visit the homes of every voter and establish contact with them. The process of door-to-door voting through postal ballot will be started in the state from April 08, 2024 in the first phase for 03 days. If some voters are not available at home on these dates, then the second phase will be started for such voters from April 10, 2024. Its program will be decided at the district level. This information will also be made available to voters through newspapers and other mediums.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer said that minimum facilities have been arranged for voters in 11729 polling places in the state. Ramp, drinking water, furniture, shed arrangements are available in 94 percent polling places and 97 to 98 percent polling places are available. Under minimum facilities, alternative arrangements like ramp, drinking water, furniture, shed etc. will be made at some polling places. Saksham app has been arranged by the Election Commission of India for all identified disabled category voters and voters of 85+ years. Requests for 1524 wheel chairs have been received through Saksham App in the state. 994 requests for doli and 5910 requests for volunteers have been received. Instructions have been given by the District Election Officers to provide all these facilities to the voters. Efforts have been made to provide Braille based copies to assist visually impaired voters who have knowledge of Braille. Braille marked ballot paper will be made available for visually impaired voters. Free and cashless medical services will be provided to all the personnel involved in the election as and when required during election duty. Government and listed hospitals will be included in this. In this, apart from the personnel associated with the Ayushman scheme, this facility will also be provided to the personnel who are not associated with this scheme. Booth level health management plan is being prepared for every booth in the state. Whatever team goes to every booth, it will be given complete information about who to contact for medical services, which will be the nearest health center and community center. Emergency kits of medicines will also be made available in the booths. Additional Chief Electoral Officer informed that till now 9 thousand 318 complaints have been received in the state through C-Vigil app, 8930 complaints have been resolved, 369 complaints have been dropped due to not being correct and 19 complaints have been resolved. But action is underway at various levels.