Voting made compulsory for gram panchayat elections

Polls will be held on May 29 and June 2

For the first time, voting will be compulsory in the elections to 5,844 gram panchayats in Karnataka that will go to polls in two phases on May 29 and June 2. The State Election Commission, on Tuesday, said that 229 gram panchayats — whose term expires after August 2015 — are not included in the 5,844 others that will go to polls to elect 94,458 members on a non-party basis. Though voting is mandatory as per the amended legislation, there is no prescribed action against those failing to vote.