Election Commission Introduces Postal Voting for Senior Citizens and People with Disabilities

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India has made a historic announcement to make the upcoming Assembly elections more inclusive. Senior citizens above 85 years of age and Persons with Disabilities will no longer need to go to the polling booth. Under the Representation of the People Act, eligible voters will be able to access postal ballot facility by filling up Form 12D. Special polling teams of the Election Commission will conduct voting at the doorsteps of the officials with complete transparency in the presence of their representatives with instructions to ensure that "no voter is left behind." This time the Election Commission has also given a big relief to media personnel, fire service, health and traffic police personnel deployed in essential services. These "absentee voters" who are deprived of voting due to duty will now be able to exercise their franchise through postal ballot. For this, the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) will be used, which is completely free and highly secure. This will be done through a nodal officer of the concerned department.