New Delhi, March 19 (NationPress) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced new measures to assist the elderly, persons with disabilities (PwD), service voters, and those on election duty to exercise their right to vote via postal ballots in the forthcoming Assembly elections across four states and one Union Territory, according to an official statement.

The official indicated that in accordance with Section 60(c) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, electors who are over 85 years old and PwDs identified in the electoral rolls are permitted to vote through postal ballots.

It was specified that the postal ballots must be submitted to the respective Returning Officers (ROs) by 8 a.m. on the vote counting date, which is set for May 4, 2026.

Eligible voters can utilize this service by completing Form-12 D and submitting it to the RO through their booth level officer within five days following the election notification.

According to the statement, polling teams will arrange to collect votes directly from voters' homes according to a schedule created by the designated ROs, which will also be communicated to the candidates.

Voters engaged in essential services on polling day can request the postal ballot facility through the appropriate nodal officer from their department, as stated by the ECI.

This facility encompasses essential services like fire, health, electricity, traffic management, ambulance, aviation, and long-distance government road transport services.

Additionally, media personnel authorized by the Election Commission for coverage on polling day are classified as absentee voters in essential services and are also eligible for the postal ballot service.

A voter assigned to election duties will receive their postal ballot, cast their vote, and return it at a designated facilitation center.

The ECI has issued guidelines to ensure that voting occurs in complete secrecy at these facilitation centers.

Service voters will receive their postal ballots electronically through the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System once the list of contesting candidates is finalized, and they will not incur any postal service costs.

P. Pawan, Deputy Director of the ECI, mentioned that the RO/District Election Officer (DEO) has been instructed to inform political parties and contesting candidates about these provisions.

During the announcement of the Assembly election schedule on Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stated that Assam and Keralam would hold elections in a single phase on April 9, while the Union Territory of Puducherry would also vote on the same day. In Tamil Nadu, all 234 Assembly seats will be contested in one phase on April 23.

For the West Bengal Assembly with 294 members, polling will occur in two phases: on April 23 for 152 seats and on April 29 for the remaining 142 seats.

The election results for all states and the Union Territory are expected to be declared on May 4.