The Election Commission on Friday said for the first time in Lok Sabha election, it is facilitating ‘home voting’ for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PwDs) across the country.

The home voting facility of the poll panel is aimed at empowering voters who encounter barriers to participating in the electoral process at the polling stations. This facility is extended to senior citizens aged above 85 years and PwDs.

“Voters in this category have already begun casting their votes for phase I and II of polling. This initiative marks a significant stride towards ensuring inclusivity and accessibility of the electoral process and in bolstering democratic participation,” the ECI said in a communiqué.

The poll panel informed that there are over 81 lakh above 85 years aged voters and more than 90 lakh PwD voters registered across the country.

Voters who availed the home voting facility in phase I polls have expressed gratitude and satisfaction for the initiative, it said.

The ECI said voting from home takes place with involvement of a full contingent of polling staff and security personnel with secrecy of voting diligently maintained.

In Rajasthan’s Churu, eight PwD voters, all from the same family, exercised home voting facilities underlining the strength of India’s electoral democracy.

In Chhattisgarh, 87- year-old Indumati Pandey and 86-year-old Sonmati Baghel, from Bastar and Sukma tribal districts, exercised their franchise using the postal ballot at home and expressed their gratitude to ECI for the facility.

In Maharashtra, ECI polling teams travelled 107 km to provide home voting facility to two elderly voters in Sironcha town in Gadchiroli district, left wing extremism (LWE) affected area.

BR Mishra from Jaysingh Nagar, Madhya Pradesh, after availing home voting said, “The duty you have done is commendable, you have done a very good job, I can say that the way you have discharged your duties is extraordinary, if all of us work like this then we will make our country proud.”

Similar stories are being reported from other parts of the country where home voting is being conducted.

The LS elections 2024 will be held in seven phases between 19th April and 1st June. The results will be declared on 4th June.