Panaji, Dec 9 (SocialNews.XYZ) Covid-19 positive persons will be allowed to vote during the December 12 zilla panchayat elections, only during the last hour of voting and after wearing full PPE gear, according to the State Election Commission guidelines (SEC) which were issued on Wednesday.
"The required number of PPE kits and hand gloves based on the number of Covid positive persons, shall be provided by the returning officer to the block level officers, which shall be used by the Covid positive persons when they come to the polling station for voting," the guidelines.
The guidelines also mandate poll officials to make a list of Covid-19 positive persons in each of the 48 constituencies which are going to poll in the coastal state, so that proper preparations are made at the respective polling booths, where infected persons are eligible to vote.
"Covid-19 positive persons will be allowed to cast their vote during the last hour of the polling day i.e. between 4 pm to 5 pm. The block level officers shall be instructed to identify the covid positive person in each polling station," the guidelines also state.
Polling staff have been directed to regularly sanitise the polling station as well as regularly touched surfaces and articles inside the premises.
"If the temperature is above prescribed norms, the voter shall be asked to sit in the shed for 10 minutes and the second reading will be taken. If the second reading is still higher than the prescribed norms, then the voter will be asked to come for polling at the last hour of poll i.e. 4 pm to 5 pm," the guidelines state.
On December 5, State Election Commissioner Chokha Ram Garg had said that eligible voters who are Covid-19 positive, would be allowed to vote for the forthcoming zilla panchayat elections during the last hour of polling day.
Garg had said that the state poll Commission was adopting the Election Commission of India guidelines which were implemented during the recently conducted state assembly elections in Bihar, where similar protocol was followed.
7,91,814 voters spread over nearly 1,200 polling booths are eligible to cast their ballot for the 48 zilla panchayat constituencies in the state. There are currently 1,310 active Covid-19 cases in the state.
Source: IANS
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