The Odisha government has amended rules for the smooth conduct of the elections for gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zilla parishads, an official said.
As per the amended rules, the counting of votes will be done on a date to be fixed by the State Election Commission (SEC). Earlier, the counting of votes were done on the same day of the poll.
A gazette notification issued in this regard by the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department said that the Odisha Grama Panchayat Election (Amendment) Rules, 2021; Odisha Panchayat Samiti Election (Amendment) Rules, 2021; and Odisha Zilla Parishad Election (Amendment) Rules, 2021 have been framed.
In view of the changed rules, the counting of votes will be done on different dates. The result may be declared one day after the completion of the polls in all places across the state.
"The presiding officer shall after close of the poll, seal the ballot box and voting machine in presence of candidates or their polling agents who may be present, prepare separate bundles of all papers and reports and forward the same to the election officer on same day after which the election officer shall proceed to take up counting of the votes on the scheduled date in presence of candidates or their agent, if any, who may be present at counting centre," the notification said. The SEC further proposed to have central counting at block headquarters instead of counting at the booth level in the next general election to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), 2022.
"Unless the commissioner otherwise directs, after the close of polling, the presiding officer shall seal the ballot box in presence of the candidates or their polling agents who may be present and prepare separate sealed packets of all papers and reports and forward the same to the election officer after which the election officer shall proceed to take up the counting of votes on the scheduled date in presence of the candidates or their polling agents, if any," this was included in the Rule 36 of Odisha Zilla Parishad Election Rules, 1994.
Earlier, the SEC had asked the District Collectors to ascertain the availability of ballot boxes, both in good as well as in repairable condition.
Sources said the panchayat polls are likely to be held in early 2022.
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