Assembly elections 2022: COVID-19 patients can vote from home says ECI

New Delhi, Dec 30: The Election Commission of India said that those persons who have tested positive for COVID-19 can vote from home during the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand.

Chief Election Commissioner, Sushil Chandra said that voting during the assembly elections will be held between 8 am 6 pm.

Chandra also added that all officials on poll duty will be fully vaccinated. The CEC also added that it is necessary to be speed up COVID-19 vaccinations in poll bound states. Those who have tested positive for COVID-19 can vote from home he added.

The CEC also said that the number of new voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years is three times more when compared to the previous elections. The duty of the ECI is to ensure a fair and COVID-19 free election. Keeping in view the ongoing pandemic, we have reduced the number of voters per booth from 1,500 to 1,200, Chandra said.

Earlier he said that the elections should be held in time. The ECI however added that the elections should be held with all precautionary measures, following COVID-19 protocols.

Chandra said that the representatives of all party had met and said that the elections should be conducted on time. He also said that VVPATs will be installed at all voting booths and live webcasting facilities will be available at around 1 lakh voting booths to ensure transparency.

He further added that parties including the ruling BJP, Samajwadi Party, Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party had said that the polls must be held. The parties also came up with several suggestions on how the vulnerable groups in the population can be protected against COVID-19.

"We have heard the concerns of all parties. Representatives of all political parties said elections should be held on time by following Covid protocol. All parties have raised the issue of rallies being held in violation of Covid protocols and asked for restrictions to be put in place," Chandra said.

"We have taken cognisance of all points raised by the political parties and we will conduct an inclusive election in which no voter will be left behind," Chandra also told reporters at a press briefing.

Chandra had visited UP following a request of the Allahabad High Court to defer the polls due to a spike in COVID-19 cases and its new variant Omicron.

Chandra also said that in the 2017 UP elections the voter turnout was 61 per cent. In the Lok Sabha elections held in 2019 the turnout was 59 per cent. It is a matter of worry why the voting percentage is less in a state where the political awareness among the people is high.