Postal ballot potential game changer in Punjab’s multi-cornered contest

Ludhiana: Since the people aged above 80 have first-ever chance to use postal ballot, the district administration have their orders to reach out to these senior voters in time with the ballot papers. In a multi-cornered contest, where the winning margins are expected to be thin and every mandate counts, these votes are a potential game changer.
Along with the octogenarians, the defence personnel and people with disabilities (PWDs) will also use the postal ballot method of voting.Those in the defence services can fill a form online for using the facility, while the PWDs have to produce a certificate of disability. Ludhiana has 58,946 voters in the 80-plus age group, 5,168 in the defence category, and 10,766 in the PWD segment.
Officials involved in the postal ballot process claim that it will be a challenge for the polling staff to conduct voting through this system because first they must take ballot papers to the prospective voters and then carry these back for counting. One of the officials claimed that in Punjab’s new political situation, where the coming in of new parties such as the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) and the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) had made the assembly elections a multi-cornered contest and the winning margins were expected to be thin, postal ballots could be the game changer.
He said: “Earlier we used to depute our staff to bring the senior voters to the polling stations but, this time, more elderly residents are expected to use the postal ballot facility.”
Confirming the move, a senior officer in the district administration said: “The block-level officers (BLOs) have the responsibility of getting in touch with the voters who are aged 80-plus and can’t reach the polling station because of health-related issues. They will be offered the postal ballot service.”
The senior officer in the district administation also said that even the voters who were down with Covid-19 and spending time in quarantine will also get a chance to vote by postal ballot, as the Election Commission of India had instructed the administration not to deny even a single voter his or her right to vote.