New Delhi, 19 March (H.S.): The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced postal ballot provisions for seniors over 85, Persons with Disabilities (PwD), service voters, and election duty personnel in forthcoming assembly elections across Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, alongside bypolls in Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Nagaland, and Tripura.Notifications issued March 16 for Assam, Kerala, Puducherry signal April-May polling, with May 4 counting.

Form 12D applications—via Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to Returning Officers within five days of notification—enable home voting teams to collect ballots ensuring secrecy.

Essential services staff (fire, health, power, transport, aviation, media) apply through nodal officers; ballots return to facilitation centres by May 4, 8 a.m. ECI mandates party/candidate briefings, electronic transmission post-nomination, and no postage for service voters, fortifying inclusivity.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar