ECI to facilitate Elderly, PwD and Service Voters and voters on election duty to vote using Postal Ballot in the upcoming Assembly Elections

• Absentee Voter (AV) framework lets specified categories — 85+ elderly, PwDs, service voters, voters on election duty, essential-service workers — cast votes via postal ballot instead of EVM at booth.
• Operationalised via Section 60(c), Representation of the People Act, 1951 and Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 (Rules 18–27).
• UPSC relevance: a recurring GS-II Polity intersection of electoral reforms, inclusive franchise (Art. 326), and ECI's plenary powers (Art. 324).