BHUBANESWAR: As many as 161 persons infected with Covid-19 exercised their franchise in the by-elections to Balasore Sadar and Tirtol Assembly segments on Tuesday.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) SK Lohani on Wednesday informed that 127 Covid patients in Tirtol and 34 in Balasore cast their votes in the bypolls.
Officials said 21 persons, who cast their vote in Tirtol bypoll, were in home isolation. Similarly, 23 patients who took part in the polling in Balasore Sadar were undergoing treatment in home isolation.
As a safety precaution, a separate time slot was set for voters infected with the virus to exercise their franchise. Most of the patients reached booth in PPE kits for voting. Arrangements of postal votes were also made for the elderly, PwDs and Covid patients keeping in view the pandemic situation. A total 3,193 voters of such categories cast their votes from home in Tirtol segment. Their number was 1,631 in Balasore segment. The polling was completed smoothly and the EVMs have been safely stored in the strong rooms at Balasore Collectorate EVM warehouse and SVM College, Jagatsinghpur amid strong security arrangement and CCTV surveillance, the CEO said.