Jaipur, April 5 (IANS): The facility of home voting for senior citizens above the age of 85 and for people with over 40 per cent disability, that was announced by the Election Commission of India, was provided on 12 seats for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan from Friday.

Polling parties began reaching residences of voters who opted for home voting.

Election officials said that 36,558 voters have opted for home voting in the first phase on 12 seats, including Jaipur, Sikar, Ganganagar, Bikaner, of which 27,524 are senior citizens and 9,306 are people with disabilities (PwDs).

Chief Electoral Officer, Praveen Gupta, said that 76,636 eligible voters have opted to vote from home for all 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. This includes 58,954 elderly voters and 17,682 PwDs.

Praveen Gupta said that Booth-Level Officers (BLO) went door-to-door and gave information regarding home voting facilities to eligible voters.

To opt for this facility, eligible voters filled Form 12-D and gave it to the BLOs.

The Chief Electoral Officer said that the voting process started in the first phase of Lok Sabha constituencies from April 5 and will continue till April 14.

If for any reason a voter is absent or deprived of home voting, the second phase will take place between April 15 and 16.

Forms of 36,558 eligible voters had been approved by the Returning Officers in 12 Lok Sabha constituencies for home voting.