Bhopal, Mar 20: People above 85 years will now have the option to cast their votes from the comfort of their homes, Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan said on Tuesday.

Giving details about the vote count, he said, "Overall voter count in Madhya Pradesh stands at 5, 64,76,110, including 2.90 crores males and 2.74 crores females."

"The number of new voters in the 18 to 19 age group stood at 16,49,641 while the state has 2,89,503 voters above 85+ years. The work of adding the names in the voter list will continue till 10 days before the filing of the nomination", he added.

Earlier, in a first the Election Commission announced 'vote-from-home' facilities for citizens above 85 years and persons with disabilities for the Lok Sabha elections.

The commission said that voters above 85 years of age and persons with disabilities with a 40 per cent benchmark disability can vote from home. The commission said that at polling stations volunteers and wheelchairs will be deployed and transport facilities for persons with disabilities and the elderly will be arranged.

Meanwhile, speaking on law and order, Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan said that 1.25 lakh weapons have been collected and 152 illegal weapons have been seized so far. In addition to this, checking is being done at more than 500 checkpoints across the state.

"There will be live streaming at more than 50 per cent of polling stations. GPS will be installed in all vehicles transporting EVM machines," he said, adding that 5.5 lakh personnel will be put on election duty.
As far as Pink polling booths are concerned then 3500 polling centers will be built. The total number of polling stations in the state stands at 64,503, he added.

The poll official said the lowest number of booths (1,934) will be in the Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency, while the highest (2,614) will be in Mandla. Similarly, the lowest number of voters at 16,32,074 lakh was enrolled in Chhindwara, while the highest was in the Indore parliamentary seat at 25,13,424.

Lok Sabha elections will be held in four phases in Madhya Pradesh. The first phase will be held on April 19 and polling for the last phase in the state will be held on May 15. The voting in Bhopal will take place in the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls.

(ANI)

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