Bhubaneswar: The Odisha State Election Commission (SEC) has begun extensive preparations for holding Panchayat and Urban Local Body (ULB) elections simultaneously in April or May next year.
SEC Secretary Santosh Kumar Dash stated that a formal notification for the Panchayat elections is likely to be issued in March. Electoral roll revision and verification will commence in October to ensure accurate voter lists ahead of the voting phase.
Groundwork for the democratic exercise intensified following the state Housing and Urban Development Department’s recent publication of a draft reservation list for chairperson posts across 35 ULBs. The government has opened a 15-day window for citizens to submit objections and suggestions to the Director of Municipal Administration.
According to the draft, the chairperson seats are distributed among various demographics, including 11 for Scheduled Caste (SC) women, seven for the SC category, seven for Scheduled Tribe (ST) women, four for the ST category, four for women, and two for unreserved candidates.
Once the reservation lists are finalised, the SEC will carry out a comprehensive door-to-door survey across municipalities, municipal corporations, and Notified Area Councils (NACs) to accurately map voters to individual booths. In smaller NACs, each ward will function as a separate polling booth to facilitate smooth voting. A total of 143 Urban Local Bodies, including 43 municipalities and NACs along with major municipal corporations, will go to the polls. “We will be conducting a door-to-door survey to split the main ECI electoral roll appropriately into ward-wise and booth-wise lists. While rural areas will have multiple booths mapped to specific panchayat segments, urban blocks like Municipal Corporations and NACs will see precise booth-level demarcation. In NAC areas, the goal is to systematically allocate one booth per ward to streamline the voting process,” Das explained.
Long-pending legal hurdles have been cleared, including the Orissa High Court case related to the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation, enabling the commission to proceed with necessary orders for elections there.
Logistical arrangements are already moving at a rapid pace to support the simultaneous voting process. “Around 12,000 to 15,000 EVMs are required for the urban local bodies. We already have approximately 8,000 EVMs securely stored, and we have placed an additional procurement order for 6,000 new EVMs. The commission has also initiated orders for ballot papers and vehicles required for polling duties,” he said.
The Secretary added that standard operational procedures regarding law and order enforcement will be strictly implemented once the official election notification is formalised.
