Sambalpur: State Chief Electoral Officer Ensures Home Voting Option for Elderly and Visually Impaired
Sambalpur: The State Chief Electoral Officer, IAS Nikunj Bihari, conducted a review meeting yesterday with the goal of ensuring seamless conduct of the 2024 parliamentary and assembly elections in western Odisha districts.
Dr. Bihari took stock of the preparations in the four Lok Sabha constituencies of Sambalpur, Bargarh, Sundargarh, and Dhenkanal, which collectively cover 28 Assembly segments across these districts.
Speaking to the District Magistrates, Police Superintendents, and others in attendance, the Chief Electoral Officer stressed the importance of conducting the elections in a peaceful, fair, and free way while closely following the model code of conduct.
He instructed the authorities to provide sufficient provisions, such as drinking water kiosks and shaded waiting rooms, for the comfort of voters at polling places in light of the summertime. For elderly voters and those with disabilities, facilities such as postal ballots and pick-up and drop cars will be offered.
For elderly voters above 85 years of age and those with less than 40% blindness, special facilitation is being provided to enable them to vote from their homes. The polling parties will make arrangements to visit their residences and conduct the voting process there.
For essential workers like drivers, and conductors engaged in poll duties, special polling booths will be set up at convenient locations.
In order to maintain transparency and stop electoral fraud, such as forged ballots, CEO Bihari emphasized the importance of webcasting between 60 and 70 percent of polling places and urged the forces to keep a close eye out for any possible Naxal threats.
In this review meeting, preparations related to assembly constituencies of Sambalpur, Sundergarh, Dhenkanal, Bargarh and Lok Sabha areas and assembly constituencies of Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sundergarh and Dhenkanal districts were reviewed.
District Election Officers, Revenue Divisional Commissioner Shrikanta Prusti, Uttaranchal IG Himanshu Lal, and DIG rank officers from Talcher and Rourkela were present at the meeting. While the overall law and order situation was stated to be normal, adequate CRPF units have been deployed as a precautionary measure in these Maoist-affected areas.
