With preferential voting system being used in elections to 25 seats of the Legislative Council on December 27, the Election Commission of India has decided to use ballot papers and photographs of all candidates.
Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha told presspersons here on Thursday that electronic voting machines and party symbols would not be used in the polls to be held from local bodies’ constituencies.
The ballot papers with photographs of candidates will help the electorate identify and make their choice easily. Indelible ink will not be used; instead polling officers will provide sketch pens. The electorate will be given an opportunity to cast NOTA votes as well, he said.
Mr. Jha said that illiterate voters, who have been identified from the information provided in the sworn affidavits at the time of their elections to the respective local bodies, will be allowed to take the help of a literate person to cast votes, wherein the voter has to mark his preference in numerical order.
The ECI has not fixed any limit on poll expenditure of the candidates. Polls will be held in offices of all gram, taluk and zilla panchayats, city corporations, city municipal corporations, town municipal corporations, and town panchayats. A total of 6,516 polling stations will be set up across the State, he said.
There are 1,08,454 voters. The Urban and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj departments should not come out with new orders during the enforcement of poll code. The election authorities will monitor candidates campaigning and take action if they influenced voters. The final notification of the voters’ list would be released on December 9, Mr. Jha said.
A total of
6,516 polling stations to be
set up across
the State
