After setting up polling booths for a handful of voters in remote and less populated areas, the Election Commission is now reaching out to voters at their homes. In the first phase, 62,927 eligible voters of Rajasthan will vote from their homes in this assembly election. The first phase of home voting started in the entire state on Tuesday.
Chief Electoral Officer of Rajasthan, Praveen Gupta, said that Home Voting is an initiative started for the first time at the direction of the Election Commission of India to facilitate voters above the age of 80 and specially-abled voters with more than 40 per cent disability.
A total of 62,927 eligible voters of the state have applied for this facility as an option. Among them, 51,033 voters are above 80 years of age, and 11,894 voters have special abilities. However, the number of voters aged 80 plus and disabled (more than 40 per cent) in the entire Rajasthan is 1,732,391.
A maximum of 1,401 voters for home voting are from the Baytu assembly constituency, 855 from Vallabhnagar, 819 from Dungarpur, 652 from Malviya Nagar, 666 from Civil Lines, and 553 voters are from the Shahpura assembly constituency.
To register the voters for Home Voting, booth-level officers went door-to-door. Eligible voters have opted for this facility by filling out the 12-D form.
List of voters voting from home made available to political parties
The list of voters who are registered for Home Voting has been made available to all recognized political parties by the returning officer.
To start the first phase of Home Voting, polling parties consisting of the Presiding Officer, Polling Officer (PO), Micro Observer, Camera Man, and Security Guard left for different locations in Jaipur, Ajmer, Sikar, and Alwar districts on Tuesday. An 87-year-old, Indubala, cast the first vote from the Hawamahal assembly seat of Jaipur. A polling party has been given a target to cast 15 to 20 votes in a day.
Polling parties will visit the homes of these voters in the first phase between November 14 and 19. After casting the vote, the ballot paper will be inserted into the ballot box on the spot. Videography of the entire process will be done. If no voter is found at home in the first phase, the team will go to his place for the second round on November 20 or 21. Even during this period, if the voter is not found, then the vote of that voter will be considered canceled.
