The Election Commission has stopped the implementation of the decision to facilitate Postal Ballot for voters above 65 years of age for Bihar elections. In view of the situation made by Covid-19, the Election Commission had approved the change of rules to facilitate Postal Ballot for voters above 65 years.
Along with this, the Commission was constantly taking stock of the ground situation, it has already refused more than a thousand voters at every polling station. Due to this, 34 thousand more polling stations are being built and their number will increase by 45 percent to one lakh 6 thousand. For this, a large number of security forces and other resources will also be needed.
Keeping these challenges in mind, at present, the Commission has not issued a postal ballot notification for voters above 65 years, but for voters who are over 80 years of age, Kovid-19 is infected or suspected and Voters engaged in essential facilities will have the facility of postal ballot.
Significantly, amidst Coronavirus infection, the Election Commission has allowed people above the age of 65 to exercise their franchise by Postal Ballot. Along with this, it was said that the Corona positive patient should also be given the facility to use their voting rights through postal ballot.
At that time it was believed that this decision of the Election Commission would be applicable in Bihar elections. Let us know that the risk of coronavirus infection is more than the age of 65, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney diseases. Medical experts and the government have also consistently asked not to pull out such people.
Let me tell you that earlier, the right of the postal ballot was available to the elderly and disabled persons up to 80 years of age. According to a notification by the Law Ministry on October 22 last year, the facility of voting was given through postal ballot for elderly and disabled voters above 80 years of age to increase the vote percentage in the election. At that time, the Ministry had amended the Election Rules of operation in 1961 to give voting rights to ballots and included them in the category of ‘absentee voters’.
Let us tell you that in the present system, only the soldiers of the army, paramilitary forces, and government employees working in foreign countries and those posted in election duty have the right to vote by postal ballot. Talking about the figures of last year, the use of postal ballot The voters to be listed are about 10 lakhs of the military forces under the defense ministry, 7.82 lakhs of paramilitary forces under the home ministry and 3539 voters of the foreign ministry working in the foreign mission.
News Source: HindustanTimes
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