Kerala to amend laws for voters hit by Covid

The Cabinet has directed the Health Department to set the special protocol and list out the specific requirements to be arranged at the polling stations to facilitate the COVID patients to vote.

Thiruvananthapuram:The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday decided to facilitate the COVID patients to cast their votes in the upcoming local body elections in the State in the last one hour of the polling time. The State Cabinet decided to recommend the State Governor to amend the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act and Kerala Municipality Act accordingly.

The Cabinet decided to allocate the last one hour of the polling time for COVID patients and those on COVID quarantine on the day of the election. As of now, the polling time has been scheduled from 7 am through 6 pm on the poll day. Of this, the last one hour from 5 through 6 in the evening will be exclusively for the COVID patients and those under COVID isolation or quarantine.

The COVID patients and those under COVID quarantine will be given an opportunity to cast their electoral rights, after all those who are waiting at the polling stations at 5 pm vote and leave the booths. Even those who test positive for COVID on the day of elections can vote at this time.

Earlier, postal voting was suggested for those who cannot reach the polling booth. However, all the procedures for exercising postal votes have to be completed two days prior to the poll day. In that case, those who turn positive in the last two days before polls will not be able to exercise their electoral rights. Hence, the Government has decided to amend the acts pertaining to it and ensure that they can exercise their votes.

The Cabinet has also directed the Health Department to set the special protocol and list out the specific requirements to be arranged at the polling stations to facilitate the COVID patients to vote. Besides, a special protocol for the polling officers and the agents to follow would also be chalked out.