Ranchi, Nov 20 (PTI) She is unable to walk on her own or speak clearly, yet 106-year-old Chinta Devi did not miss the opportunity to cast her vote in the second and final phase of the assembly elections on Wednesday.

Chinta Devi turned down the option of home voting as she had done during the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, and reached booth no 351 in Gandey assembly seat in Giridih on a wheelchair to cast her vote.

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Brimming with childlike joy after exercising her franchise, the centenarian waved at other voters standing in the queue.

Chinta Devi is not alone among the elderly voters who, despite various ailments, show determination to exercise their democratic right when many others choose not to vote.

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The state witnessed large numbers of enthusiastic senior citizens waiting for their turn to cast their votes.

Many of them walked with difficulty, while others were assisted by family members and polling personnel.

Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner Chandan Kumar said that a 112-year-old elector exercised his franchise in Gola block in Ramgarh assembly seat. However, he did not provide details.

Reflecting his determination to vote, 90-year-old Govardhan Munda who forgot to bring his identity card to his booth in Gola, returned home to fetch the document.

At booth no 114 at Shriram Bhavan, Suraj Nath, 91, a resident of Gardena Gali in the urban area said even though he has poor eyesight and hearing, his enthusiasm to vote is still the same as before.

About 700 centenarians, including about 400 women, were eligible to exercise their franchise in 38 assembly constituencies in the second phase of the Jharkhand elections.

A large number of a total of 995 voters aged above 100 years, including 462 male voters and 533 female voters had cast their votes in the first phase of assembly elections in the state on November 13.

The number of electors above 85 years was 50,224 in the second phase including 28,369 female voters.

Jharkhand has 2.60 crore voters, of whom 1.13 lakh are aged above 85 years.

An election official said they ensured several facilities along with accessibility, and friendly infrastructure like ramps at the polling stations for persons with disabilities and senior citizens.

In Jharkhand, all polling stations were located at ground floor and ramps with proper gradient were provided for the convenience of differently abled electors and senior citizens with wheelchairs.

Further, in order to provide targeted and need-based facilitation to differently-abled voters, the Election Commission had directed that all persons with disabilities and senior citizens in an assembly constituency be identified and necessary arrangements made for their smooth and convenient voting experience on poll day.

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