Poll panel releases final voter list for panchayat, urban local bodies poll

The State Election Commission today released the final voter list for the elections to panchayat and urban local bodies (ULBs). However, the Deputy Commissioners haven’t published the mandatory notice of final publication of the electoral rolls, triggering speculations whether the government and the EC are on the same page over conducting the elections at the scheduled time.

“None of the DCs has published the notice. The law requires the District Election Officers to publish it. We’ve asked them to explain why they have not published it,” said State Election Commissioner Anil Khachi.

The elections, due in December-January, came under the cloud of uncertainty when Chief Secretary Sanjay Gupta issued an order last month stating that elections would be held only after the restoration of proper connectivity so that no inconvenience is caused to the public as well as the polling personnel. Thereafter, the Panchayati Raj Department issued an order to all the deputy commissioners to examine and forward the proposals regarding re-organisation of gram panchayats, adding to the uncertainty. If the government does go ahead with re-organisation of some panchayats, the elections, in all probability, will get delayed. The election commission, though, is moving ahead as per its schedule.

Meanwhile, the voter lists have been prepared for 3,548 out of 3,577 gram panchayats and for 70 Urban Local Bodies. For the remaining 29 gram panchayats, the list would be ready by December 1.

As per the completed voter lists, there are a total of 55,19,709 registered voters in the state, including 27,26,548 women and 27,93,161 men. The voter lists are available on the Commission’s website https://sechimachal.nic.in, where the voters can check their names. The names could be checked on Voter Saarthi App as well.

The spokesperson said any person who has completed 18 years of age on or before October 1 is eligible to have his/her name included in the voter list. “If the name of any eligible person is missing from the final voter list, they can apply for inclusion by submitting the prescribed form in duplicate, along with a fee of Rs 2 to the concerned District Election Officer or DC’s office until the election schedule is announced,” he said.

If a person’s name is not included in the voter list of a Nagar Panchayat, Nagar Parishad, or MC, they may apply for inclusion in the voter list by submitting the prescribed form in duplicate, along with a fee of Rs 50, to the Electoral Registration Officer and Sub-Divisional Officer.