Uttarakhand Additional Chief Electoral Officer takes stock of poll preparations

Additional Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande told ANI that there are a total of 65 thousand 160 elderly voters in the state of Uttarakhand, whose age is more than 85 years, the Election Commission had decided to provide the facility of voting from home through the postal ballot to elderly voters.

Uttarakhand Additional Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande took stock of poll preparedness ahead of the Lok Sabha election. The people of Uttarakhand will cast their votes in a single phase on April 19, according to the Election Commission of India. There are five Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttarakhand.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Kumar Jogdande told ANI that there are a total of 65 thousand 160 elderly voters in the state of Uttarakhand, whose age is more than 85 years, the Election Commission had decided to provide the facility of voting from home through the postal ballot to elderly voters. He informed that so far 09 thousand 993 elderly voters have been received in the state, and all these elderly voters will be provided the facility of voting at home through postal ballot.

"80 thousand 335 Divyang voters have been identified in the state, 02 thousand 899 such applications of Divyang voters have been received, which are valid, on which the facility of voting will be provided by going to the house. A route plan has been prepared to reach these voters through all AROs." the Additional Chief Electoral Officer said. He informed that to provide the facility of voting at home for elderly and Divyang voters, it was decided to conduct the first phase of voting from 08 to 10 April 2024, some districts were given exemption to make changes as per their convenience.

Addl CEO Vijay Kumar Jogdande said that some districts have decided to allow elderly and handicapped voters to vote at their homes from 05 and 06 April 2024. The second phase will be held between 10 and 13 April 2024 to provide the facility of voting at home to elderly and handicapped voters. Its information will be given through newspapers and television. While holding meetings with the candidates, route charts, voting dates and a valid list of elderly and handicapped voters have been prepared and made available to the candidates. Uttarakhand Chief Electoral Officer BVRC Purushottam has instructed Excise Commissioner Prashant Arya to increase monitoring of the sale and seizure of liquor across the state given the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

While giving instructions to install CCTV, etc., at the check posts for monitoring, he also instructed to provide daily reports to his office, an official statement said. "The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has instructed the Excise Department officials to compulsorily upload the progress report of the action taken against illegal liquor in all the districts on the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) portal every day," the statement read.

The CEO also directed that the sudden increase in liquor sales should be monitored by analyzing the daily sales in liquor shops for the last two years. "He gave strict instructions to complete the training programs of excise officers and nodal officers in the next 2-3 days. While giving instructions to ensure the tracking of vehicles, he said that there should be continuous cooperation with the police department," it added. (ANI)

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