: The scrutiny of nomination papers for the elections to local bodies would be held by the respective returning officers on October 15, the State Election Commission has notified.
A press note issued here on Sunday said the candidate, election agents, one nominee of the candidate and one person authorised by the candidate can be present during the scrutiny. Candidates would be allowed to peruse their nomination forms during the scrutiny. Candidates should have completed 21 years of age on the day they file the nomination papers, the press note said. Nomination papers should be rejected only if there are serious defects. Minor defects such as discrepancies in the election year, the name of the ward, the number in the voters’ list, selection of the election symbol, age and name and mistakes in writing and technical defects would be ignored during scrutiny. Mistakes can be corrected during the submission of nomination papers, the press note said. The returning officer should make sure that the candidates duly pay the deposit for contesting the elections.
If it becomes clear that a candidate — as per the guidelines laid down in the Kerala Panchayathi Raj Act and Kerala Municipality Act — is ineligible to be a member of the local body concerned, his/her nomination papers would be rejected. Nomination papers must be filed before 3 p.m. on the days notified for such submission. Only the candidate or the person nominating him should file the nomination papers. The candidate and the person nominating him should affix their signatures on the nomination papers.
While the candidate must be a voter in any ward of the local body to which he is contesting, the person nominating the candidate should be a voter in the constituency or ward from where the candidate is contesting.
