In a significant development for the Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has announced that individuals above the age of 85 and those with over 40 per cent disability will have the option to cast their votes from their homes.
Rajiv Kumar during the press conference stated, “We are introducing the facility of home voting for individuals aged 85 and above. Prior to nominations, we will dispatch Form 12 D to their residences to provide them with this option. While this initiative has been experimented with in certain regions during assembly elections, this marks the first nationwide implementation.”
Kumar added, “If they opt for home voting, we will facilitate the voting process at their homes. However, based on our experience, many of these individuals prefer to cast their votes at the polling booths as they have consistently participated in our democratic process arrangements such as volunteers and wheelchairs will be made available for them at the polling stations.”
Kumar further disclosed that there are 85 lakh registered voters aged above 85 years, while the number of voters with disabilities stands at 88.4 lakh. The CEC also provided statistics on the total number of eligible voters, revealing that there are 97.8 crore eligible voters with 49.72 crore male voters and 47.1 crore female voters.
The elections for the 543 Lok Sabha seats will be conducted in seven phases, commencing with voting for 102 seats in the first phase on April 19. The vote counting will take place on June 4.
