Postal ballot facility fails to enthuse elderly, PwD voters in Malerkotla

Mahesh Sharma

Malerkotla, April 12

With the administration claiming to have identified 4,812 registered voters for providing postal ballot facility, majority of the Persons with Disability (PwD) voters and elderly persons above 85 years of age have shown inclination to be welcomed by poll staff at their respective polling booths.

ONLY 39 OUT OF 2,047 ELIGIBLE WANT TO AVAIL

• Less than 2 per cent PwDs and super octogenarians (above 85 years of age) have filled forms for availing the postal ballot facility
• Sources at the District Election Office revealed that only 39 out of 2,047 voters of Malerkotla Assembly segment under Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency, eligible for the postal ballot facility due to physical tenderness, had agreed to avail the facility on being approached by the administration
• Similarly, 57 out of 2,765 eligible voters of Amargarh Assembly segment under Fatehgarh Sahib parliamentary constituency came forward to avail the facility

Less than 2 per cent PwDs and super octogenarians (above 85 years of age) have filled forms for availing the facility of postal ballot till now.

Sources at the District Election Office revealed that only 39 out of 2,047 voters of Malerkotla Assembly segment under Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency, eligible for the postal ballot facility due to physical tenderness, had agreed to avail the facility on being approached by the administration. Similarly, 57 out of 2,765 eligible voters of Amargarh Assembly segment under Fatehgarh Sahib parliamentary constituency came forward to avail the facility.

District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Pallavi said teams of designated poll personnel supervised by Malerkotla SDM Aparna MB and Ahmedgarh SDM Gurmit Kumar Bansal had been deployed to visit registered premises of voters eligible for postal ballot facility in compliance of guidelines of the Election Commission. “As the ECI has advised to provide postal ballot facility for registered PwD voters and persons above age of 85, who are unable to visit the polling booths, we have made adequate arrangements to get the requisite forms filled from their (voters) residence,” said DEO Pallavi, maintaining that special arrangements have been made to make visits and stay comfortable for the voters who choose to exercise franchise through EVM.

Besides government resources at their disposal, the administration claimed to have roped in social organisations for arranging extra facilities, including volunteers, wheelchairs and transport for those special voters who persist in visiting their respective polling booths.

The DEO informed that 2,807 voters above 85 years of age and 2,005 PwDs had been identified for providing postal ballot facility by getting forms filled from their respective residences. There are 1,137 service voters in the district and 6,836 first time voters in the district.

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