The State Elections Commission on Monday announced a two-phase survey of more than 5,700 gram panchayats in 30 districts of Karnataka. The elections will be held on December 22 and 27 and the results will be announced on December 30.
In announcing the voting schedule, State Elections Commissioner B. Basavaraju said that all districts will have two-phase voting, and the decision was made in light of COVID -19. The Model Code of Conduct for Elections will take effect immediately.
Address HC
The announcement comes in light of the Karnataka High Court giving the SEC three weeks to announce the dates of the Gram Panchayat polls.
“The EVMs will be used in the Bidar district and the ballots in the rest of the state. The SEC will notify the polls on Monday and, in turn, the deputy commissioners will notify the first and second phase of the polls on December 7 and 11 respectively. “
In total, 5,762 gram panchayats out of 6,004 gram panchayats will go to the polls in these two phases.
Basavaraj said the 162-gram panchayats whose term ends after December 20 will not go to the polls. Likewise, 74 gram panchayats that have been enhanced or partially enhanced will also not go to the polls along the 6 gram panchayats that are litigated in court.
The 2.96 crore voters will vote to elect 92.121 grams of panchayat members in total. Up to 45,128 polling stations will be set up and around 2.7 lakh election officials will be deployed to monitor the elections.
According to the schedule, the last date for the presentation of nominations will be December 11 and 17 for the first and second phases respectively, and the voting will take place on December 22 and 27. The dates for re-election – if necessary – will be December 24. and December 29. The count will begin on December 30 from 8 am and the results will be declared the same day.
Care for COVID-19
In light of COVID-19, the State Elections Commission has taken appropriate precautions. While the number of booth voters has dropped from 1,500 to 1,000, for the first time, Angawadi and Asha workers, along with health officials, are being recruited for the elections. Hand sanitizers will be available at the polls.
“COVID-19 positives and suspects will be able to vote in the last hour of voting, and this will be assisted by health officials.” Said Mr. Basavaraj. Elections will be held between 7 am and 5 pm “Standard operating procedure has been established to conduct elections safely. Voters should not fear for the pandemic, “he added.
.
