Disabled, people over 80 years of age can now vote through postal ballot

NEW DELHI: Senior citizens above 80 years of age, ‘absentee voters’ engaged in essential services and persons with disabilities (PWD) now no longer need to go to the polling stations to vote, with the government, acting on advice of Commission, having amended the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 last week to allow the aforesaid categories to vote via postal ballot.
After studying the needs of citizens who are unable to come to the polling stations due to the degree of their disability as well as those who are left out due to their engagement in various capacities in the discharge of essential services e.g., railways, state transports and aviation etc, the Commission had made the recommendation to ministry of law and justice on September 2, 2019, for allowing them postal ballot facility. “...On October 22, 2019 the Central Government amended the rules (Conduct of Election Rules, 1961) accordingly,” EC said in a press release on Monday.
As per the amended rules, a concept of ‘absentee voter’ has been introduced and defined as a person who is employed in essential services as mentioned in the notification concerned, and includes an elector belonging to the class of senior citizens or persons with disability.
A ‘person with disability’ means a person flagged as PwD voter in the data base for the electoral roll. ‘Senior citizen’ means an elector belonging to the class of absentee voters and above 80 years of age.
The two categories of voters — senior citizen of more than 80 years of age and PwD electors marked in the electoral roll — will have now choice of voting either as absentee voter or as a regular voter on the poll day. If any of the electors belonging to these categories intends to vote early, then as per the amended Rule 27 C of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, he/she shall make an application in a new Form 12 D, which shall reach the returning officer within 5 days following the date of notification of election. After the receipt of such application, the elector will be issued a postal ballot paper, which shall be deposited in the specified centre after recording of vote.
“With this new initiative, the Commission is sure that the senior citizens of more than 80 years of age and the PwD electors will have the choice of exercising their right to franchise from their homes. However, such voters have both the choices available either voting through postal ballot by following due procedure or going to the polling station on polling day..” said an EC spokesperson.
EC has started working on the detailed guidelines and SoPs to facilitate the process of postal ballot paper for aforesaid categories. These guidelines will include the identification of such voters, the manner of outreach, the methods of collection as well as voting in the specified centres in each constituency.
The Commission is also taking a number of steps including personal contact under its SVEEP initiatives to make the electors aware of this new facility so that such electors can exercise their voting right in the manner they intend to do.