Officials reach out to very senior citizens to ascertain their mode of voting

With exactly a month to go for the Assembly polls, officials in Perambalur district have begun to reach out to senior citizens aged above 85 and persons with disabilities to ascertain directly from them if they would be in a position to visit the polling booth on the day of election to cast their vote.

The district administration has already compiled detailed information regarding the total number of senior citizens aged above 85 and persons with disabilities residing in the two Assembly constituencies of Perambalur (SC) and Kunnam in the district. 

Alongside making arrangements, as per the advice of the Election Commission, the district administration has simultaneously deployed Booth-Level Officials and entrusted them with the task of ascertaining from very senior citizens and persons with the disabilities whether they would be in position to come to the polling booths to exercise their franchise.  The BLOs have been going from door to door in this regard since March 11 in the two Assembly constituencies.

Consent was being obtained from those who had expressed that they would be unable to come to the respective polling booths to cast their vote. The BLOs have been distributing Form 12 D to such voters who were unable to visit the polling booths. Arrangements would be made for such voters to cast their vote from their respective homes, the sources said. 

The total number of senior citizens aged above 85 was 1,625 and 3,440 persons with disabilities in the case of Perambalur (SC) Assembly constituency. In respect of Kunnam Assembly constituency, the number of senior citizens aged above 85 was 2,165 while the number of persons with disabilities was 4,265.

Sources said 993 voters till now had expressed their option to cast their vote from their home with Form 12 D having been distributed to them. There are 732 polling stations at 352 locations in Perambalur district.