The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative Assembly of Bihar and the bye-elections in 8 ACs on October 6, 2025. The Commission directed the Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) to ensure that the elections are made accessible to Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). All polling stations in Bihar will be located at ground floor/road entry level and will have ramps. PwD electors and senior citizens with wheelchairs will be prioritized for entering polling booths. The Commission has directed to issue Accessible Voter Information Slips with Braille Features, along with the regular Voter Information Slips (VIS) to facilitate the Persons with Visual Impairment. As per Rule 49N of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, visually impaired persons can take a companion. Dummy Ballot Sheets in Braille will be available in all Polling Stations. The Commission has directed that there should be proper transport facility for PwDs. PwD electors can also request transport and wheelchair facility by registering on Divyang (Saksham) Module of ECINET. These facilities will be available at each of the 90,712 Polling Stations in Bihar. 292 Polling Stations will be exclusively managed by Persons with Disabilities. (Release ID: 2179407) The release was posted on 15 OCT 2025 4:01PM by PIB Delhi.
Key Entities Referenced
Election Commission of India: Directs measures for accessible elections.
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs): Beneficiaries of accessibility measures.
Bihar: Location where these measures will be implemented.
Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961: Rule 49N of this act mentions visually impaired persons can take a companion along with them to cast their vote on their behalf at the Polling Station.
Election Commission
ECI issues directions for ease of voting for Persons
with Disabilities
Posted On: 15 OCT 2025 4:01PM by PIB Delhi
1. The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative
Assembly of Bihar and the bye-elections in 8 ACs on October 6, 2025. The Commission has
directed the Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) to ensure that the elections are made accessible to
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
2. In Bihar, all polling stations will be located at ground floor/road entry level and will have ramps
with proper gradient for the convenience of PwD electors and senior citizens with wheelchairs.
Also, it has been directed that PwD electors & senior citizens are given priority for entering
polling booths.
3. To facilitate the Persons with Visual Impairment, the Commission has directed to issue
Accessible Voter Information Slips with Braille Features, along with the regular Voter
Information Slips (VIS).
4. As per Rule 49N of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, visually impaired persons can take a
companion along with them to cast their vote on their behalf at the Polling Station.
5. Dummy Ballot Sheets in Braille will also be made available in all Polling Stations. Any visually
impaired voter can use this sheet to cast his/her vote by themselves using Braille facility on Ballot
Units of EVMs without any help from companion.
6. The Commission has directed that there should be proper transport facility for PwDs at the polling
station on the day of poll. The PwD electors can also request transport and wheelchair facility by
registering on Divyang (Saksham) Module of ECINET.
7. These facilities will be available at each of the 90,712 Polling Stations in Bihar. Additionally, in
another initiative, 292 Polling Stations will be exclusively managed by Persons with Disabilities.
*****
PK/GDH/RP
(Release ID: 2179407)