T.N. Assembly election: Who is eligible to cast a postal ballot? Explained

As Tamil Nadu is gearing up for the Assembly election scheduled on April 23, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has notified the list of categories of the electorate who would be allowed to cast a postal ballot. Who are they?

As per Section 60(c) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the Commission has notified that electors above the age of 85 years and persons with disabilities (PwDs) flagged in electoral rolls may cast their vote through a postal ballot.

“Such electors can avail this facility using Form 12 D and submitting to the Returning Officer through their BLO within five days of notification of election. Polling teams will collect their votes at their homes, as per schedule to be prepared by the respective Returning Officers and shared with the candidates as well,” the Commission said.

Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Archana Patnaik has notified the list of persons employed in the essential services, who may be allowed to vote by a postal ballot on account of being on duty on the day of poll in the current general election to the Legislative Assembly.

Those who are marked as serving in essential services in connection with the upcoming election are: Southern Railway under jurisdiction of Tamil Nadu, All India Radio, Marine Department, Airport Authority of India, Ministry of Information of Broadcasting, mediapersons, Chennai Metro Rail, Tamil Nadu State Transport Undertaking, Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited, Fire and Rescue Services, Prison and Correctional Services, and Traffic Police.

An elector on election duty shall receive his/her postal ballot, record his/her vote thereon and return the same at the facilitation centre. The ECI has issued directions in this regard to ensure that voting takes place with complete secrecy for the voter at the facilitation centre.

As for service voters, they will be sent their postal ballots electronically by the Returning Officer through the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS), immediately on finalisation of list of contesting candidates. “Service voters are not required to bear the cost of postal services.”

The postal ballots cast should reach the concerned Returning Officers (ROs) by 8 a.m. on the date of counting of votes, i.e., May 4, 2026. The Returning Officers (RO)/District Election Officers (DEO) have also been directed to brief the political parties/contesting candidates regarding the above provisions.

The notification for the election to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly would be issued on March 30.