Vote from Home (VFH) facility will be enabled for senior citizens aged 80 years and above, and persons with disabilities (PwDs) from Saturday, April 29. Karnataka Election 2023: Vote from Home start from today. VFH was first introduced in Sindagi and Sira by-elections in Karnataka and such an exercise is being taken for the first time across Karnataka can vote under secrecy from their households, without going to the polling booths, on May 10.
The Election Commission of India has announced a new initiative for elderly and specially-abled voters to cast their votes from home in Karnataka, as the assembly elections draw closer. This new voting arrangement will benefit approximately 5.71 lakh people with disabilities and 12,15,763 elderly people above the age of 80 in the state.
A total of 99,529 people have chosen the ‘vote from home’ option including 80,250 senior citizens above the age of 80 and 19,729 specially-abled voters. The number of elderly citizens and specially-abled voters varies across different districts in the state, with some areas having more voters eligible for this option than others.
Bengaluru’s metropolitan area has a total of 9,152 senior citizens and 119 specially-abled voters, while some constituencies have only seven elderly citizens each who will be casting their ballots from home. Sira constituency in Tumakuru has the highest number of such voters, with over 2,000 people eligible to vote from home.
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How will vote from home process work?
The CEO of Karnataka clarified that this voting method is only applicable to people “who are either confined to their homes or suffering from age-related ailments.” The voting exercise will start on April 29 and continue until May 6, during which separate polling staff will visit each eligible voter’s house with a team of five members, including two polling officials, one cop, and one videographer.
They will check the voter’s ID, obtain a declaration, and hand over a ballot paper. The voter will have to cast their vote inside a secret compartment and drop it in an envelope. If the voter is not available during the visit, the team will reschedule the visit. If the voter is not available during the second visit, they will lose the chance to vote.
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