Ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections, more than 12,000 voters, including senior citizens above 85 years of age and persons with disabilities (PwDs), utilized the home voting facility, which concluded on Monday. The option of home voting is available to voters who are either senior citizens over the age of 85 or those with a 40% or higher benchmark disability. Eligible voters can avail themselves of this facility through postal ballots in these elections.
According to Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pankaj Agarwal, out of the state’s 2.46 lakh voters aged above 85 years and 1.49 lakh PwD voters, a total of 9,596 senior citizens and 2,600 PwD voters applied for and were granted access to the home voting option. The voting process for these individuals, supervised by polling teams, has been completed ahead of the state elections scheduled for October 5.
The home voting facility involves a team of two polling officials, accompanied by a videographer and security personnel, visiting the elector’s residence. A portable voting compartment is set up to ensure that the vote is cast in complete secrecy. To maintain transparency, the list of voters opting for home voting is shared with recognized political parties. Additionally, these parties are given the polling schedule and route chart of the polling teams, allowing their representatives to observe the voting process.
After the votes are cast, the ballots are stored securely with the Returning Officer (RO), and counting will take place along with other votes on October 8. Haryana’s Assembly election will be conducted in a single phase across all 90 seats. The term of the current Assembly is set to end on November 3, with 1.031 candidates contesting in the elections.
For the upcoming polls, 20,632 polling stations have been set up across the state, and 27,866 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used, including reserved units. These will be supplemented by 24,719 control units and 26,774 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines, allowing voters to verify their choices after casting their ballots.
In terms of security, 225 companies of Central Armed Police Forces have been deployed across the state. Additionally, 500 flying squad teams and 461 state surveillance teams are on duty to ensure the elections proceed smoothly. The election results are expected to be declared on October 8, the same day as the results for Jammu and Kashmir, where two of three phases of polling have been completed.
