LAHDC-Kargil Elections-Postal Vote Facility: All you need to know
KARGIL: In pursuance to the notification issued vide SO. 65 dated 07.09.2023 and in exercise of powers vested in me under rule 37 of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Election) Rules 1995 and by virtue of Election Authority for the General Elections to the LAHDC Kargil-2023, I, (Shrikant Balasaheb Suse) lAS, Election Authority (Deputy Commissioner), Kargil do hereby notify the following:
Procedure for voting through postal ballot by: 1 Absentee voters in the category of senior citizens above the age of 65 (AVSC) and 2 PwDs persons with disabilities (AVPD) have been given the facility of voting through postal ballot paper.
Provisions for the electors of such class: 1 Absentee Voter of such class wishing to vote by postal ballot has to make application to the Returning Officer in Form-13A giving all requisite particulars. Such application seeking postal ballot facility should reach the RO within five days following the date of notification of the election concerned.
2 The issue of postal ballot paper of the absentee voter of such class and return of the ballot paper after voting shall be in such manner as prescribed below.
Action to be taken by RO: 1 On receipt of application in Form-13A, the RO will draw a list of all Absentee Voters in this category, i.e. (a) Absentee Voters belonging to senior citizen category (65+) and (b) Absentee voter belonging to PwD category whose applications have been received in time and are in order. 2 The format in which the list referred to above list to be prepared is annexed as Annexure-1.
3 On the last date for making nominations for the election, the electoral roll becomes frozen for that election and no further addition or deletion can be carried out in the roll till the completion of the election.
At that stage, RO shall verify and mentioned ensure that the electoral roll particulars of the applicants for postal ballot in Form-13A match with the particulars in the electoral roll and they are registered as elector. Al| the electors referred to in para-2 above and whose particulars with reference to the electoral roll have been found to be correct shall be issued postal ballot paper as Absentee Voters in the category of senior citizens and PwD.
4 After the list of Absentee voters in such class is finalized entry ‘PB’ shall be entered in the marked copy of the electoral roll against the names of such electors.
Form and Design of Postal ballot paper: 1. The postal ballot paper for Absentee Voters shall be of the same form and language as the postal ballot paper as prescribed under rules.
2. In the case of electors of such class, the Election authority has specified that the issuing of postal ballot paper and returning of the same after casting vote shall be in the following manner: a).
The Assistant Returning Officers of the Constituencies Assisted by the Booth Level Officer of each polling station of the Constituencies has been designated as the Poll officer for their respective Constituencies in the district. b) The poll officer shall go to the electors in this category in his Constituency at the address mentioned in their applications in Form-13A for facilitating them voting by postal ballot paper. c).
The list of AVSCs and AVPDs alongwith the ballot papers duly signed by the ROs in the back side, Form of declaration (Form 24), envelops/Cover in Form 25, envelop/cover in Form 26, shall be provided to the Poll Officers in such manner that the poll officer gets a list of persons of his respective Constituency. d) It shall be the responsibility of each poll officer to (a) issue Postal ballot to each of the Absentee voters assigned to him/her, (b) brief the elector about the procedure to be followed for voting through postal ballot, (c)make sure that the elector votes without anyone influencing his/her choice, and ensuring the secrecy of voting. However, if any elector is notable to cast vote by himself due to blindness or physical infirmity, he/she shall be allowed to take the assistance of any adult person of his /her choice for casting vote. e) ldentity of the elector shall be verified before issuing postal ballot paper. Name of elector and the document produced for identification shall also be entered in a register to be maintained for the purpose by the poll officer, and signature/thumb impression of the elector obtained therein. A format for the register is annexed at Annexure-2.
Further, a tick mark shall be placed against the name of the elector in the ist of AVSC and AVPD to indicate that the person has voted. f) The Booth Level Officer (BLO) concerned is authorized to attest the declaration in Form 24 in the case of AVSC and AVPD. While attesting the declaration, the booth level officer shall write his full name and also g).
The electors should be briefed about the procedure for voting and formalities to be observed on their part.
They should be clearly briefed on the following points: a) Making the declaration in Form 13A and getting it attested by the poll officer himself. b) Entering the serial number of postal balot paper, both Form13A/Form 24 and on the smaller envelope (Form25), on c) Manner of of marking vote, i.e. by placing tick mark against the name candidate of choice.
Folding and placing the marked ballot in the smaller envelope (Form 25) and closing the envelope, e) Closing the larger envelope containing the declaration in Form 24 (duly attested by BLO) and postal ballot in Form 25 and handing over the same to the poll officer. f).
The electors would have been already intimated about the date and approximate time of visit of Poll Officer for facilitating postal voting by them. However, if the elector is not present at the given address at the first visit, the Poll Officer shall pay a second visit after leaving intimation about the time of second visit. If the elector is not present even at the second visit, no further visit or action is required in his/her case.
Period during which postal ballot voting should be completed: Copy to: 5.1 Visit by poll officers to the address of AVSC and AVPD electors shall be completed before three days of the date of poll. 5.2 Police Security cover shall be provided to the poll officers during their field visit in this regard. It shall be ensured that the secrecy of vote is not violated.
Read Notification Here: Postal Vote Facility
Deposit of envelopes containing marked ballot papers: 1. At the end of each day of visit by Poll Officers to the address of AVSC and AVPD electors, the envelopes in Form-26 containing postal ballot paper etc. and other particulars shall be collected by the ROIARO designated for postal voting by the absentee voters.
The ROIARO shall ensure to put the envelops containing postal vote and declaration of the AVSCs and AVPDs in the provided steel box to be kept locked and sealed, meant for collecting Postal Votes, and deposit the box to the Strong Room of Election Cell on daily basis till completion of Postal Vote facility.
