Three-phase elections for gram panchayats in state
SEC SPEAKS Elections of 9,171 sarpanches will be done through electronic voting machines
JAIPUR: The State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday announced a three-phase schedule for the election of sarpanch and panch in 9,171 gram panchayats of Rajasthan.
State election commissioner PC Mehra said elections of 9,171 sarpanches will be done through electronic voting machines (EVMS) and that of 90,400 ward panches will be done by ballot papers.
The final electoral rolls for these elections will be published on January 3 and kept at panchayat samiti and gram panchayat headquarters for free inspection. However, names can be added, deleted and modified until the date of notification.
Mehra said notification for the first phase will be issued on January 7 and voting will be done on January 17. For the second phase, the notification will be issued on January 11 and voting will take place on January 22. Notification for the third phase will be issued on January 18 and voting will be done on January 29. Counting will be done on the voting days itself after voting ends at 5pm, he added.
Election for up-sarpanches will be held the next day – on January 18, 23 and 30, respectively.
Around 65,000 staff will be required for conduct of these elections, Mehra said.
Each district will have an observer t o supervise and ensure implementation of model code of conduct. “One or two senior IAS or RAS officers will be posted in each district as observers,” he said.
Election control rooms will be set up at district and divisional headquarters, he added.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 4, 30.8 million voters are eligible to cast their vote for sarpanch and panch. People turning 18 on January 1, 2020, can get their names added to the list, Mehra said.
The final list will be published on January 3, he added.
Names added after this and before notification will be published in supplementary list.
The SEC said the limit of expenditure on campaigning has been increased from ₹20,000 in 2014 to ₹50,000 now. Candidates can spend this amount on loudspeakers, cut-outs, hoarding, posters and banners.
“They will have to submit bills with the district electoral officer or his nominee within 15 days of announcement of results,” he said.
The state government created some new gram panchayats this year through three notifications – on November 15, 16 and 23, and December 1. However, the Rajasthan High Court cancelled the notification of December 1 on December 13. Following this, the state election commission
decided to divide gram panchayats in two categories – one affected by the November 15, 16 and 23 notifications, and the other, unaffected by them.
The election schedule announced on Thursday is for the second category of gram panchayats.