6 days Ago By Nisha Nambiar
Pune: Chandrabhan Bhansali (104) from Parvati assembly constituency exercised his franchise for the upcoming state assembly polls from his residence on Friday, thanks to Election Commission of India 's home voting facility. "Everyone should strengthen democracy by voting," said Bhansali after casting his vote. Parvati constituency's returning officer Manoj Khairnar said they completed home voting for all 104 registered voters in the area within two days.
"We deployed four teams to ensure smooth completion of the process," he told TOI. The district administration has achieved 82% coverage in home voting so far, with 1,857 voters out of 2,275 applicants having cast their votes, officials said on Saturday. This includes 1,594 senior citizens above the age of 85 and 260 differently-abled voters.
The remaining votes will be collected by Monday evening. The home voting facility, first introduced during the Lok Sabha elections, required voters to submit forms within five days of Oct 22 election notification. Persons with disabilities (PwDs) need to provide disability certificates with their applications.
The process involves booth level officers collecting forms. Candidates can also send representatives to supervise the voting. "A dedicated team of polling and security officials visits each voter's home after sending prior notification, including SMS alerts.
The entire process is video recorded for transparency while maintaining voting secrecy," a district election official said, adding that this initiative aims to ensure greater electoral participation from elderly and differently-abled voters facing mobility challenges. The Election Commission's initiative of home voting for senior citizens and disabled individuals has elicited positive response from voters. R Hari, another voter who never misses exercising his franchise, said that home voting process allowed senior citizens like him to participate in the democratic process without undertaking the physical strain of travelling to a polling station.
Megha Shimpi, whose 88-year-old mother used the home voting facility, said that through this initiative her mother was able to engage in the democratic process and cast her vote, fulfilling a duty vital to societal progress..
