MARGAO
As the election officials began the process of voting for absentee voters comprising of senior citizens above 85 years and persons with disabilities, rejection of around 3000 votes rendered invalid by the Election officials have come back to haunt the political parties and citizens.
Senior citizens and Congress leaders called for caution by the inmates housing the senior citizens and the persons with disabilities.
Congress leader Savio Coutinho made a fervent plea to the inmates to remain alert and ensure that ballot paper is inserted in the envelope having the same ballot number.
“This process of absentee voters was introduced in the 2022 Assembly election. Thousands of absentee voters had cast their votes at their residences. Sadly, around 3000 votes cast by the absentee voters were declared as invalid since the ballot number and the number on the envelope did not tally”, he said.
He added: “We do not want a repeat of the 2022 election situation in the ensuing polls. That’s the reason we are making a plea to the people in the households to ensure that the votes cast by the absentee voters are inserted in the right envelope to rule out mischief by polling officials”.
Leader of the Senior Citizens Forum Deigo D’Costa said the election officials should allow the family members of the absentee voters to cross check at the time of sealing the envelopes that the votes cast by the absentee voters are inserted in the right envelope.
