- State Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar on 3-day tour
- Appeals youths above 18 years to enrol names in voter list
- To hold special review meeting with Mysuru DC today
Mysore/Mysuru: In what is seen as a big relief, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to extend the postal ballot facility to Persons with Disabilities (PwD) in view of their difficulties in reaching out to polling stations to cast their votes.
Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjiv Kumar, who is on a 3-day tour of Mysuru and Mandya districts to review progress of special revision of voter’s roll, told SOM that though special facilities like ramp and wheel chair are arranged at every polling booth for PwD, still many find it difficult to cast vote on the day of polling. In wake of this, the Election Commission (EC) has decided to allow such persons to make use of the postal ballot so that they could exercise their franchise from wherever they are.
He said people with disabilities may go to places where the special voter’s list revision was going on now and submit applications to officials concerned to mention as ‘PwD’ (Divyang) in front of their names in the list for enabling the EC to include their names under the postal ballot beneficiaries.
With this, Persons with Disabilities (PwD) can vote without taking the risk of going to polling stations on the day of voting. Many a times, the poll staff would physically carry such persons and take them inside polling booths to enable them to cast their votes. “I appeal PwD to make use of the same,” he added. Sanjiv Kumar also asked the youths, who are completing 18 years as on Jan. 1, 2021 to enrol their names in the voter’s list in the ongoing special Electoral Enrolment Drive started from Nov. 18 till Dec. 17, 2020. There are 30 Poll Observers of the rank of Secretary who will visit every district to take stock of the month-long special drive.
Missing of names: On complaints from citizens about the missing of names in voter list, the CEO said the purpose of holding the special drive was to enable people to check whether their names were in the list or not. In case of missing, they can give applications on-the-spot for the inclusion of their names. It is also the duty of the general public to bring to the notice of Election Commission (EC) about death of persons in order to delete such names from the voter list. This would help the EC to update the list of voters.
Ready to hold by-polls: He said they are ready to hold by-elections to two Assembly Constituencies — Maski and Basavakalyana — and Belagavi Lok Sabha Constituency and waiting for the ECI to announce the date for by-polls.
Meeting in Mandya: Upon his arrival in Srirangapatna, Mandya DC Dr. M.V. Venkatesh received him. The CEO also inspected a polling booth. Those who were present included Additional Deputy Commissioner Shailaja, Assistant Commissioner Shivalingamurthy, Tahsildar M.V. Roopa, Chief Conservator of Forests T. Heeralal and Deputy Conservator of Forests Dr.M.J. Alexander.
Earlier, Sanjiv Kumar and his family members went on a boat ride at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary in Srirangapatna.
The CEO is scheduled to hold a special electoral review meeting with Mysuru DC later today.
Who can avail postal ballot?: Members of the armed forces like the Army, Navy and Air Force, members of the armed Police force of a State (serving outside the State), Government employees posted outside India and their spouses are entitled to vote only by post. Recently the Election Commission had allowed Corona positive patients to avail this facility.
Star of Mysore, please step up your reporting…
How about sending the message of this article by including at the top of the article, a simple graphic of a ‘Person with disabilities’ and the ballot appearing to be inserted into a mail envelope (addressed to the Election commission). That picture would say more than the pictures of the electoral officer and his family taking a boat ride about the newly introduced enhancement.
Though we thank you for the pictures of Karnataka’s chief electoral officer & his family taking a boat ride and exposing the waste of taxpayer time and money (middle of the day during the workweek), more appropriate is useful information of the local/regional Election commission offices
Telephone / email details
Webpage and link to download add/delete forms
Documents needed
With that information we will be equipped to start the process for a successful inclusion/deletion into the electoral rolls.
Better yet, why not list these useful pieces of information in the article itself (Yes, this takes time and effort to learn the process but isn’t that learning for you? A learning that will help communicate (discussion of value) the intent of the change by the electoral commission, effectively and widely? A good news reporter not only reports but also educates to a certain degree.
Providing a link on the webpage so we may download and print an enrolment form at an internet cafe will make us ready to submit the form which is usually not something trivial to complete. Imagine how fast processing can be done if many people have their forms completed and ready instead of each one having to fill out the form while at an office! The people at the office can then focus efforts to help people who really are ill-equipped to handle these on their own.
As a side note, please stop making your article pictures more about vanity than sensibility.. In all three pictures combined (Waste of real estate on a newspaper article that talks about important updates by the Election commission but forgoes the opportunity to communicate this crucial empowerment with a relevant graphic) only three people in the last picture are masked. Those three people display ‘Sensibility’ over ‘Vanity’!
SOM you have a fantastic cartoon artist – Satish Acharya, how about having your reporters work with various team members so they cross-pollinate. Learn and teach, each other. Satish Acharya can teach your reporters a few things about ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’.