Polls amid pandemic: Voters to get gloves; booths to have thermal scanners

Election Commission recommends mandatory sanitisation of polling stations, preferably a day before the polls

Voters will be provided with gloves to press the EVM button and Covid-19 patients in quarantine will be allowed to vote at the last hour of the polling day, according to broad guidelines issued by the EC on Friday for holding elections during the coronavirus pandemic.

The gloves will most likely be disposable.

A separate set of guidelines would be issued for voters who are residing in areas notified as "containment zone", the Election Commission said.

The commission has recommended mandatory sanitisation of polling stations, preferably a day before the polls.

Thermal scanners would be placed at the entry point of every polling station.