22 elderly, disabled persons avail of vote from home facility on last day in Gautam Budh Nagar

Most of the (other) people were either out of the town for personal reasons and several others were seeking treatments due to health-related ailments

NOIDA: A total of 22 people with disabilities and senior citizens aged above 85 availed voting from home facility in the Gautam Budh Nagar constituency on Tuesday, the last day, informed officials on Wednesday.

With Tuesday’s voting, a total of 377 electors, above 85 years and the specially-abled persons, availed the home voting facility. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

With Tuesday’s voting, a total of 377 electors, above 85 years and the specially-abled persons, availed the facility. On the first day, Monday, a total of 355 people had cast their votes from their respective homes. The home voting option was available for two days only, according to officials.

The Gautam Budh Nagar constituency will go to polls on April 26.

Officials informed that most of the (other) people were either out of the town for personal reasons and several others were seeking treatments due to health-related ailments.

The Election Commission of India for the first time has introduced the facility for electors above 85 years of age and people with disabilities (40% benchmark disability), to vote from home. The step is to make voting hassle-free for people under the two categories, informed officials.

“Between 7am to 6pm on Tuesday, only a handful of electors including those above 85 years of age and the specially-abled persons took part in voting from home in the Gautam Budh Nagar constituency,” said Vipin Kumar Agarwal, officer-in-charge (postal ballot and electronically transmitted postal ballot system).

“Most of the electors under the category are either not in the town or have been seeking medical treatment for different health issues, as a result, they did not participate in the voting process,” he added.

According to the information from Gautam Budh Nagar administration, there are as many as 22,118 voters in the constituency under the two categories.

There are a total 11,466 electors above 85 years of age, including 4,288 in Noida, 4,034 in Dadri and 3,144 in Jewar. Whereas, there are as many as 10,652 specially-abled voters, including 4,453 in Noida, 3,864 in Dadri and 2,335 in Jewar.

Meanwhile, the Gautam Budh Nagar administration on Tuesday began the process of commissioning electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines at the Flower Market Phase 2 in Noida, where counting of votes will be conducted post polling in the constituency.

Moreover, regular on-site inspections are being conducted in the Flower Market phase 2, strong rooms and polling booths, by the district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma, to take stock of the situation on ground.

On Monday, Simrandeep Singh, appointed as the general observer in Gautam Budh Nagar, inspected polling booths in the district and issued necessary instructions to the officials concerning deployed on poll duties.