Uttarakhand: Second phase of election from home will start from 10 am for old and disabled voters.
The second phase of door-to-door voting for elderly and disabled voters in Uttarakhand will start from April 10. This time, 12,892 elderly and disabled voters have applied to vote from home for the Lok Sabha elections.
At the same time, model disabled polling booths will be built in all the 70 assemblies of the state. Additional Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande, while giving a press briefing in the media center located at the Secretariat, said that the Election Commission provides many facilities to the elderly and disabled voters. There are a total of 65,160 elderly voters in the state, who are above 85 years of age.
The Election Commission had taken the decision to provide the facility to elderly voters to vote from home through postal ballot. So far, applications from 9,993 elderly voters have been received in the state. All these elderly voters will be provided the facility to vote through postal ballot at home. 80,335 disabled voters have been identified in the state.
2,899 applications from disabled voters have been received, which are valid. On which the facility of home voting will be provided. A route plan has been prepared to reach these voters through all the AROs. To provide home voting facility to elderly and disabled voters, it was decided to hold the first phase of voting from April 8 to 10.
Some districts had given flexibility to make changes as per their convenience. Some districts have decided to allow elderly and disabled voters to vote at home from April 5 and 6. To provide home voting facility to elderly and disabled voters, the second phase will be conducted between April 10 and 13.
This information will be given through newspaper and television. While holding a meeting with the candidates, the route chart, polling dates and a valid list of elderly and disabled voters were prepared and made available to the candidates.
Model PWD polling booths in 70 assemblies
Additional Chief Electoral Officer Jogdande said, in the 2022 assembly elections, 13,732 elderly voters and 2162 disabled voters in the state had used the facility of voting at home. The Election Commission has provided the facility of Saksham App to disabled voters. 33,111 disabled voters in the state have downloaded the Saksham app. Through this app, disabled voters can seek assistance regarding their needs. Through Saksham app, so far 1537 voters have requested for wheel chair, 2221 voters have requested for doli and 10,839 voters have requested for providing the facility of volunteers. To encourage disabled voters, it has been decided to set up model PWD polling booths in 70 assemblies in the state. These polling booths will be established at such places where assured minimum facility is available. All the personnel in these booths belong to the disabled category. Adequate training has been arranged for them at the level of District Election Officers. To assist them, instructions have been given to arrange vehicles and proper living arrangements.
Apart from voter card, you can also cast your vote through these
Additional Chief Electoral Officer said, if a person does not have a voter card for voting, then he can cast his vote with 12 other alternative documents. This includes Aadhar Card, passbook with photo issued from banks, post offices, PAN card, driving license, passport, NPR card, pension document with photo, service identity card with photo issued to employees, MNREGA job card, health insurance smart card, MPs, MLAs, Legislative Government identity cards issued to Council members and Unique Disability ID (UDID) card issued to Persons with Disabilities by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.
