Karwar (DHNS): As many as 4,801 voters in Uttara Kannada including senior citizens above the age of 80 and persons with disabilities (PwD) will vote from their homes in the coming Assembly election. In addition, 11,190 voters will exercise their franchise through postal ballot.

As per the instruction of the Election Commission, officers with ballot boxes will reach the doorsteps of senior citizens and Pwd voters between April 29 and May 6, nearly a week before the May 10 polling. 

The district has 27,342 voters above the age of 80 and of them, only 3,708 have opted for ‘vote from home’. The district also has 14,724 persons with disabilities and only 1,093 of them submitted applications to vote from home.

Postal ballot

For the first time, staff of 12 government departments providing essential services have been offered the opportunity to cast their votes through postal ballot. As many as 251 people in the district have submitted applications seeking postal ballot facility. As many as 6,138 election staff will also cast votes through post.

“The election staff will go to voters’ houses between April 29 and May 6 to get the votes of the disabled and those above 80 years of age. The votes will be kept in ballot boxes. The other government staff can cast votes on May 2, 3 and 4 in the office of the election officer of their respective constituency,” Additional Deputy Commissioner Raju Mogaveer said.

“Election staff who will go with postal ballot will have to send the vote to the election officer of their respective constituency. Only those votes which will reach before May 13, the day of counting, will be considered,” Mogaveer added.