Karnataka Elections 2023: In a first, senior citizens, people with disability to get vote-from-home option

Kumar further said that form 12D will be available within five days of the notification so that any 80 plus or PwD voter, desirous of voting from home, can be facilitated.

In a first, all senior citizens above 80 and people with disability will get a vote-from-home option in the Karnataka Assembly elections, said Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar on Saturday.

"The ECI is going to provide the facility to those above 80 years of age. Our teams will go there with a form-12D to exercise their franchise, the Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar told reporters here. Though we encourage those above 80 years to come to the polling station, those who cannot can avail this facility, he added. Secrecy will be maintained and the entire process will be videographed, Kumar explained.

"All the political parties will be informed whenever there is a movement for Voting From Home (VFH)," Kumar said.

For people with disabilities, a mobile application 'Saksham' has been introduced, which they can log in to and choose the facility to vote, the CEC said. Another mobile application, 'Suvidha' has been developed, which is an online portal for candidates to file nominations and affidavits. "Candidates can also use the SUVIDHA portal for seeking permission for meetings and rallies," the top election official explained.

The ECI has also launched a campaign called Know Your Candidate (KYC) for the benefit of voters. "Political parties have to inform the voters on their portals and social media platforms as to why they chose a candidate with a criminal background and gave ticket to contest the election," Kumar said.

Kumar further said that form 12D will be available within five days of the notification so that any 80 plus or PwD voter, desirous of voting from home, can be facilitated.

"For the first time, we are going to provide in Karnataka the facility to all 80 plus and Persons with Disabilities (PwD) voters, if they so desire, to vote even from their homes. There is a form 12D which will be available within five days of the notification so that any 80 plus or PwD voter, desirous of voting from home, can be facilitated," the CEC added.

Speaking of the Karnataka assembly election, he noted that the state with 224 constituencies has 36 seats reserved for the SCs and 15 for the STs. There are 5.21 crore voters including 2.59 women voters. The number also includes 16,976 centenarians, 4,699 third gender, and 9.17 lakh first-time voters.

Also, there are 12.15 lakh voters above the age of 80 and 5.55 lakh people with disabilities (PWD). The state has 58,272 polling stations, including 24,063 in urban areas. The average number of voters in each station is 883. Of these polling stations, 1,320 are women managed, 224 are youth managed and 224 are PWD-managed. There will be webcasting in 29,141 polling stations, the CEC said adding 1,200 are critical polling stations. As most of the polling stations are in schools, these will have "permanent water, electricity, toilet, and ramps."

"These facilities will be permanent in nature. This is a gift from the ECI to the schools and to the school children," said Kumar, who is on a three-day visit to the state to review election preparedness. To a query on a possible election date, the CEC said it has to be conducted before May 24, when the tenure of the current assembly comes to an end. He directed the official machinery to gear up for fair and transparent elections in the state.

The Karnataka Assembly elections are slated to be held in April-May. The Election Commission of India is yet to announce the date for the elections.

The ruling BJP is in contest with the Congress in the state. The Janata Dal (S) is another key player in these elections.

There has been no clear mandate in Karnataka since 2004, barring the year 2013, when the Congress emerged victorious with a comfortable majority.

The BJP emerged as the single largest party in the 2018 Assembly elections, winning 104 seats, but fell short of a majority by 9 seats. The Congress (80 seats) and JD(S), with 37 seats, quickly announced an alliance.