Voters who, due to their health condition, need to request a portable ballot box can apply to the CEC today, until 18:00.

As the spokesperson of the Central Election Commission, Natia Ioseliani, said in a conversation with "InterpressNews", the application of wheelchair voters, who can participate in the elections at any adapted polling station in the operational territory of the relevant district election commission, also expires today.

The spokesperson of CEC explained what criteria must be met by a person who wants to use a portable ballot box. According to Ioseliani, only elderly people or people with critical health cannot use the mentioned services.

"Voters who cannot go to the polling station due to health conditions, or who are in the territory of the polling station, but in a hard-to-reach place, have the right to vote with a portable ballot box. Such voters are obliged to apply to us orally, by phone, or in writing today, before 18:00. If the voter is unable to vote due to health conditions, any other person can do it instead and request the use of a portable ballot box.

It is important for the voter to know that if he requests the service of using a portable ballot box and appears at the polling station on the election day, he will not be able to participate in the election at the polling station. He is obliged to wait for the portable ballot box at home, which will arrive during the day," Yoseliani says.

In addition, according to her, the voter can request a portable ballot box in addition to his health condition, even if he is in a mountainous region, or in a hard-to-reach, difficult terrain.

"This is not a new entry, it was already written in the law. Naturally, this does not apply to such districts located in the capital, self-governing cities, or municipal centers, it is possible to be in the territory of such an election district, for example, in a mountainous region, in an inaccessible place. We don't have such a practice in the city", said Yoselian.

She also explained what criteria a voter must meet when he requests to use a portable ballot box.

"They will not be required to submit a health certificate or anything like that, just the voter's name, surname, personal number, address, the time of the telephone message, if it is a telephone message, as well as information about where the voter is requesting the transfer box service. It is possible for a person to request delivery of a moving box to another address in the area. Such a voter can be at a different address in the precinct area. For example, if a person lives in one entrance, but lives with his child in the other entrance, it should not be outside the boundaries of the district. If, for example, a person is registered in Isani, he cannot request a portable ballot box in Vake or Saburtalo district. At the address at which the voter requires a portable ballot box, he must wait at that address, the portable ballot box moves in the area of ​​the precinct from 09:00 AM to 19:00 PM, according to the addresses, and naturally, it cannot reach all of them at once in the morning hours, because they have made a movement schedule and route . Voters are obliged to be at a specific address and wait. I get frequent calls, I'm on the transfer box list and they haven't come yet, what's going on?

It is also very important that the request for a portable ballot box should not exceed 3% of the number of voters in the single list. For example, if the election precinct has 3000 voters, if the turnout of voters exceeds 3%, in this case, the precinct election commission provides information to the district and the district election commission discusses the inclusion of such type of voters in the transfer box list.

I also want you to know that both the members of the Precinct Election Commission, as well as the representatives of the election entity, the observers, have the right to check whether the mentioned voters are really the holders of the status with which they were included in the portable ballot box list. This list is public, and according to this list, they go to specific addresses and check whether the said voter is really in such a situation that he cannot come to the polling station due to his health condition. If there is a reasonable doubt, or a corresponding message is received, it will be verified, we have had a similar practice.

It is not a matter of being an elderly person, perhaps the person has a broken limb or has had an operation and it is difficult to move. Often, they think that this issue is related to age. However, there are cases when voters in their 80s and 90s come to the polling station on their own. It is directly written that this is the category of voters who cannot come to the polling station due to their health condition.

We would also like to remind you that the deadline for voters using wheelchairs to apply also expires today. Voters using a wheelchair have the right to participate in the elections at any adapted polling station in the operational territory of the relevant district election commission. "If they have made such a decision, the deadline for applying will expire today at 18:00," Ioseliani said.