Delhi Elections: Who can vote from home? Election Commission explained the whole process on AAP’s allegation

New Delhi: The Election Commission has once again explained the whole process, completely rejecting the allegations of the Aam Aadmi Party on the facility of voting from home. The Commission has said that like the general elections 2024, the Election Commission has provided “voting from home” or home voting facility to increase the reach of voters of certain special groups in the Delhi Assembly elections 2025. This initiative has been started with the aim of providing voting facilities for senior citizens above 85 years of age and persons with disabilities. Voters eligible for this facility will have to fill Form 12D to apply for home voting facility.

So far 6447 applications have been received from citizens above 85 years of age and 1058 from disabled voters for Delhi. Out of which about 1271 senior citizens and 120 disabled voters have cast their votes so far. Let us tell you that once the application is approved, a polling team including election officials and security personnel will visit the voter’s residence before the official polling date i.e. 5 February 2025. The entire process and route plan will be shared with all the candidates in the assembly constituency and the candidates or their authorized representatives will be authorized to accompany the polling team.

The team will provide a ballot paper to the voter and ensure that the voting process is completed with confidentiality and transparency, as per the guidelines laid down by the ECI. The entire process will be video recorded to maintain transparency. Voters who opt for this home voting facility will not be allowed to vote at the polling station on the day of election. This home voting option is completely voluntary.
This initiative is an important step towards inclusive voting, which ensures that senior citizens and persons with disabilities can easily participate in the electoral process. All national and local newspapers have widely covered the home voting facility. If a voter has any problem, he can go to his local RO/DEO office. AAP had made these allegations

Actually, Arvind Kejriwal had posted a post raising questions on the facility of home voting. In this, he had said, ‘The elderly have the facility to cast their vote from their home. The election officials took away the vote from this elderly woman’s house. BJP people also came with the election officials. Why is this so? Either all parties have agents or none have agents?

Actually, the process of casting votes has started in Delhi even before the voting on February 5. Voters above 80 years of age in Delhi have started casting their votes. Actually, the Election Commission has launched a special voting campaign for senior citizens and specially abled voters. Under this campaign, representatives associated with the Election Commission will go door to door and get votes cast by such voters who have applied to cast their vote from home.

What is the whole process
There are more than 1 lakh 9 thousand voters above 80 years of age in Delhi. All those voters have a special option to cast their vote from home without going to the polling booth. About 6400 such applications were given that proper arrangements should be made for them to vote from home. Similarly, the number of specially abled voters in Delhi is about 80 thousand. About one thousand of them expressed their wish that the Election Commission officials should get them to vote from home. For that, Form 12D had to be filled by going to the Election Commission website by 15 January.

Officials from the Election Commission will go to the homes of all the applicants who have filled the form for this facility and get the postal vote done and submit it in a sealed envelope. The maximum number of senior citizens, more than 1000, are in West Delhi who will cast their vote in these assembly elections from home. Similarly, the Election Commission will provide this facility to the maximum number of 244 specially abled voters in South West Delhi.