Bhubaneswar: Over 2.6 crore people are eligible to cast votes in the three-tier Odisha panchayat polls likely to be held in February next year, and the Election Commission has procured additional ballot boxes from other states for the exercise, a senior official said.
He said as per the amended provisions, counting of votes will now be held at the block level instead of the panchayat level.
“Our electoral roll revision process has been completed and the final list published in the entire state. However, we are waiting for the printed copy,” Secretary of State Election Commission, Odisha, R N Sahu told reporters here.
Asked about the preparedness, he said the state government has procured an additional 10,000 ballot boxes from Telangana, 7,000 from West Bengal and 16,000 from the Odisha Small Industries Corporation (OSIC).
Sahu said the tenure of the three-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in the state will come to an end in March, 2022 and the elections will be conducted before the expiry of the term.
The dates of the panchayat polls, which will be held in five phases, are likely to be announced by the end of December, SEC sources said.
All those who attained 18 years of age as November 1, 2021, have been included in voters’ list, they said.
The polls will be conducted in 91,913 wards among 6,794 panchayats and 853 zilla parishad members.
The results would be declared a day after the completion of the polls, the sources added.
PTI
