The process of issuing postal ballots to absentee voters for exercising their franchise will commence on Thursday.
District Election Officer Purva Garg said at a press conference that the benefit had been extended to more categories of voters. The categories are persons aged above 80, persons with disabilities, COVID-19 suspect or affected persons and officials on essential services (health care personnel, mediapersons authorised for poll coverage, ambulance service staff, aviation, shipping and railway employees).
Form-12D had been distributed and the respondents included 2,419 senior citizens (aged above 80), 1,149 persons with disabilities, 19 COVID-19 home quarantined persons, four hospitalised patients and 24 essential service staff. While senior citizens, persons with disabilities and COVID-19 patients would be issued postal ballots at their doorstep from March 25 to April 4, the others would be provided the facility at the postal voting centre in each constituency from March 31 to April 2.
An estimated 9,200 postal ballots are being prepared for polling staff, police personnel and others on poll duty.
A facilitation centre will function for polling officials at their training halls and at the Indira Gandhi Medical College, Kadirgamam, and the Vivekananda Boys GHSS, Villianur, for the other categories of postal voters from March 31 to April 4.
