NEW DELHI: Voters aged 85+ and Persons with Disabilities exercised their franchise from their homes on Friday as the Election Commission provided a home voting facility for the February 5 assembly elections in the capital.
EC teams visited several constituencies and took the votes of the elderly on ballot papers. Among them were 103-year-old Uma Shankar Bhatnagar from Greater Kailash and 92-year-old KK Khanna, who retired as an officer from the Reserve Bank of India.
“Police and Election Commission officials came to my house. It seems the EC itself came to take my vote,” Khanna, who is bedridden, said.
According to the electoral rolls, Delhi has 1,09,063 elderly voters aged above 85 and 79,114 differently-abled voters.
According to the poll body, 6,399 elderly voters aged above 85 and 1,050 differently-abled voters across Delhi districts applied for the home voting facility. The process began on Friday, with poll officials visiting voters at their residences to collect their ballots.
West Delhi recorded the highest number of applications for home voting, with 1,050 opting for the service, while North East saw the lowest participation, with 66 applying. The last date to apply for home voting was January 15.
Those who applied within the deadline can cast their votes at home until February 4. Afterward, the ballots will be sent to the election officer and the local booth-level officer for further processing.