Pune: Over 12.43 lakh elderly voters aged 85 and above in Maharashtra, along with persons with disabilities (PwD) with 40% or more disability statewide, can till Oct 27 opt for the home voting facility for the assembly poll, election officials told TOI on Thursday. Those choosing the option must fill up Form 12D and submit it to the relevant returning officer (RO) through booth level officers (BLO).
Officials added that work has commenced to collect these forms across all districts. Pune district has the maximum number of registered senior citizen voters, at 1,21,827, as per ECI data. The said form must be filled out and submitted to the RO within five days of the election notification being issued, which came out on Oct 22.
Thus, Oct 27 is the last date for the same. PwD voters must also submit a baseline disability certificate with their applications. The BLO is responsible for retrieving the filled forms from these electors' residences.
Further, candidates receive a list of these electors to maintain transparency; they can choose a representative to supervise the process if they wish. As per the procedure, a dedicated team of polling officials, along with a security team, visits each elector's residence to collect their vote. Officials said that voters are notified ahead of time of the planned visit, allowing them to exercise their right to vote in a safe and comfortable manner.
To expedite the process and improve accessibility, voters can also receive notifications via SM.