STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: On the first day of Postal and Home Voting in the district for the 02-Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency, on Tuesday a 110 year old female voter of Shopian Assembly Segment exercised her franchise.
The voter, residing at Therin Kandi in Tehsil Keller casted her vote through Home Voting Facility, facilitated by the District Administration, Shopian subsequent to guidelines of Election Commission of India in the direction of ensuring Inclusive Participation of voting process. The Home Voting Facility commenced throughout the Shopian assembly segment of the Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency wherein senior citizens and specially-abled voters, numbering 185 shall exercise their franchise, in a process monitored by election machinery of ECI and district administration with proper magisterial, observer and security arrangements. Similarly, a Postal Voting Centre was also set up at Shopian to facilitate Postal Voting of essential service staff, who were not earlier able to cast their vote due to their election day duties. A total of 586 voters shall cast their vote during the three day period. DEO Shopian, Faz Lul Haseeb also visited areas to oversee the process.
Meanwhile, Ali Mohammad Rather, a visually impaired person, was the first to vote for the election to Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday under the new home voting facility.
The facility was started by the Election Commission for the 2024 Lok sabha elections for those who are not able to visit polling stations to exercise their franchise.
Rather, 75, hailing from the Dara area of the Hazratbal assembly segment in Srinagar district became the first person in the Kashmir Valley to cast his vote through the home voting facility, an official of the District Election Office, Srinagar, said.
“The first home vote has been cast and sealed in a ballot box at Dara for blind voter (People with Disability) Ali Mohd Rather in part 68 of 19-Hazratbal segment,” the official said.
Voting for the seat will be held on May 13 in the fourth round of the seven-phase general elections.
The other early voter was a 90-year-old woman from the Harwan area of the city.
The nonagenarian, who goes by the mononym ‘Fazi’, was beaming with pride after casting her vote from her home at Harwan.
A team of officials from the district election office on Tuesday went to various places in Srinagar, including the Dal Lake area, to facilitate voters who had registered themselves under the home voting facility to exercise their franchise.