Backlash in using postal ballot

Karimnagar: It seems that the employees on election duty are showing less interest in casting their vote through postal ballot. Joint Collector Shyam Prasad Lal said that they have printed 14,650 postal ballet papers in last December elections. About 5,096 requests came for postal ballots and 4,492 employees used them and 192 were invalid.

Shyam Prasad suggested the personnel, who will be on election duty, to use the postal ballot system. Already they have received several applications from election staff seeking postal ballot, he added. The JC expected that the number of postal votes will increase this year compared to last December.

The government facilitated the staff on election duty to vote through postal ballot system. The heads of departments have to prepare a list of the employees on election duty and submit it to district election officer.

Later Form-12 or application form will be issued to the staff. They have to fill it up and return along with identity and address proof. Once election symbols are allotted to the candidates, ballot papers will be sent to the returning officers, who has to distribute them to the employee.

But not many employees on election duty are reportedly not interested in voting through the postal ballot system. Though the number of applicants opting this method is increasing, the number of persons, who actually use this postal ballot is very less.

Some staff on election duty still not applied for this vote. But in democracy, each vote is crucial in selecting good rulers for electoral workforce by providing training programmes and awareness on voting.

The applicants seeking postal ballot must to include own assembly constituency, serial number of voters list, section number, parliamentary constituency, address and details of the voter identification card and electoral staff.

Applications for Election Returning Officer (ARRO) must be provided during the first phase training. Subsequently they send the ballot papers to the post office of the Election Returning Officer.

The ballot papers registered during the second phase training classes should be placed in the respective covers and placed in special boxes constituted by constituencies. This facility was also provided in the Mandal Centre. The postal ballots should be returned through post before the counting of votes start.