THANE: As many as 202 elders and divyang voters who opted for the home voting option exercised their votes over the last two days in the district, officials said.
The Thane district has nearly 57,209 voters in the 85-plus age group and 37,854 divyang voters with over 40% locomotive disability, of which 933 elders and divyanjans from across the 18 constituencies opted for the ‘home-voting’ facility introduced during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections which is being continued for the assembly polls also.
“The home voting process for the assembly polls started on November 8 and will conclude on November 17. We visited the households of the registered voters over the last two days in Dombivli, Mumbra-Kalwa, Ovala-Majiwada, and Kopri-Panchpakhadi and managed to cover 202 voters who could exercise their right to vote from within the confines of their homes,” an official informed late Saturday.
Eighty-eight-year-old Samson Birwadkar, a resident of Thane who opted for the facility, said he was thankful for the initiative by the administration that enabled elders like him to exercise their vote. “The facility is helpful for seniors like me. The team set up the facility and also assisted me and later sealed the envelope in complete confidentiality. I urge others to participate in the future and not miss out on voting,” he said.
An election department official explained the facility was started by the election commission in a bid to ensure all voters got an opportunity to exercise their right to vote. “Voters have to register by filling out the 12D form either online or physically at the election offices until the mandated period. After scrutiny, the department segregated voters based on their postal address and mapped a route to cover maximum voters between 9 am to 5 pm. Voters are alerted beforehand,” officials added.
“A team of presiding officer, polling agent, micro observers, videographers, representatives of candidates, and police visit the voter’s home and ascertain their identity. Once done, the room is evacuated except for the voter and our staff, following which the polling booth, complete with its enclosure, is assembled and a postal ballot provided to the voter, which is then deposited at the strong room. The entire process is videographed,” informed an official, adding that the entire process doesn’t take more than 15 minutes.