Ghaziabad: According to officials, 455 out of the 480 voters who are 85 years of age or older and have disabilities cast mail-in ballots from their homes until the end of the home voting period on Saturday in the Ghaziabad district.
All 455 voters’ mail-in ballots have been safeguarded, and on June 4th, the day of the count, they will be opened.
For the first time in a Lok Sabha election, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is offering the elderly and individuals with disabilities (with a 40% benchmark disability) the option to vote from home in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Elections in the Ghaziabad constituency are scheduled for April 26 and June 4 for vote tallying.
Two teams in each of the five segments were created specifically for the purpose of allowing the 480 such voters to cast their ballots from home, according to officials.
“On Saturday, the voting for these individuals concluded. In total, 455 of these voters that were recognized cast ballots from home between April 16 and 20. Our teams went there and adhered to the ECI’s guidelines. “In certain instances, voters were discovered to have deceased while in others, they were not found at home,” said Shailendra Bhatia, the additional district magistrate and nodal officer for postal ballots.
The officer continued, “Some others stated that they had changed their minds and would now go to the polls with their family to cast their votes.
Officials stated that 329 voters in the Ghaziabad constituency were 85 years of age or older, while an additional 151 voters with impairments had requested the option to vote from home.
Official records show that there were 62 voters in the Loni segment, 99 in Muradnagar, 130 in Sahibabad, 90 in Ghaziabad, 78 in Modinagar, and 21 in Dhaulana.
All 455 voters’ postal ballots have been safely stored. These will now be unveiled on June 4, the day of the count, according to ADM Bhatia.