J'khand election dept to issue tokens to ease woes of voters

Voters in Jharkhand will no longer have to stand in queues waiting for their turns to exercise franchise during the assembly elections, due in November- December, as the state election department has decided to issue tokens to ease their woes, an official said. Under the new system, people can collect tokens and sit on chairs provided at every polling station of the state, till their numbers were called by volunteers.

"An action plan has been prepared to lessen the woes of voters. They will be given tokens and chairs till their turn comes (to exercise franchise)," Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer Vinay Kumar Choubey told PTI on Thursday. Asked whether there will be a public address system to call out the names of voters, Choubey said, "Not exactly. The volunteers will give tokens to the voters at the gate and call them (as and when their turn comes)." During the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, the poll panel had made arrangements for separate queues for differently abled voters, with drinking water and washroom facilities.

"We have sent directives to all district electoral officers to enroll volunteers from NSS (National Service Scheme) and schools. We have an action plan as to how to ferry them to the polling booths from homes and then drop them back," Choubey added..

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