The Logical Indian Crew

Elections For All! Tripura Senior Citizens & People With Disabilities To Get Vote-From-Home Option

Enabling one and all to take part in the upcoming elections in Tripura, the Chief Electoral Officer stated that a vote-from-home option will be enabled for senior citizens over the age of 80 and people with disabilities.

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During the pandemic, the world's largest democratic country explored the many ways through which elections and the participation of voters could be enabled. At the time, separate voting timings, protection gears, voting from homes, and many such concepts were brought in for the first time. In Manipur, for the first time ever, a section of voters, including senior citizens, Covid-19 affected individuals, and persons with disabilities (PwD), were allowed to cast their vote through the postal ballot at the homes for the two-phased elections.

The votes were to be cast in the presence of the representative of the concerned candidate, micro observers, and booth-level officials (BLO). Building on the same idea, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Tripura conveyed that senior citizens and persons with disabilities would be provided with the option to vote from home in the upcoming elections in the state.

Vote From Comfort Of Home

As the number of citizens over the age of 60 jumped progressively every year, it became essential to explore how to bring in their participation in the elections. The elderly population are a crucial decisive factor during the elections, and many have braved their health and age-related restrictions to make it to the booths and cast their votes. They have been vocal about the issues and fallbacks in health care, medical facilities, pensions, retirement schemes, and prescription drug prices, among many others. The elections are viewed as the trump card through which they can bring their representative's attention to the issues.

However, it also falls under the commission's responsibility to make elections an easy process for them and aid them in becoming active participants in the democratic setting. The system of "vote-from-home" was pondered over for long and was proposed in the states of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, among others. However, it posed a considerable logistical challenge to the election commission at the time. In an attempt to take the move to the groups that require it the most, the Tripura state CEO stated that the option could be accessed only by senior citizens above 80 years of age and persons with disabilities.

Ensuring Fair And Transparent Elections

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the voting for Assembly Elections 2023 will take place on February 16 in Tripura and February 27 in Nagaland and Manipur. The results of the same will be declared by March 2. The commission is all set to welcome the round of elections, and an adequate number of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPFs) have reached the state for patrolling and security management. A report by the NDTV quoted the sub-divisional police officer AK Das saying, "We have set up 14 nakas to ensure that there is no movement of illegal cash, weapons, narcotics and other material."

Emphasising fair conduct of the polls, the Tripura CEO stated that "We want fair, transparent and peaceful polls." In light of this, they set the vote-from-home facilities for senior citizens above 80 years and persons with disabilities. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar also presented the data and said that more than 62.8 lakh electors combined in Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura, including over 97,000 80 voters and 31,700 PwD voters. Additionally, over 1.76 lakh first-time voters are to participate in the elections in the three states.

Also Read: Amid COVID Pandemic, Can India Move Towards A Online Polling Systems & Virtual Rallies?

Contributors Suggest Correction
Writer : Laxmi Mohan Kumar
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Editor : Jayali Wavhal
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Creatives : Laxmi Mohan Kumar

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