Panchayat Election: Repoll At 45 Centres Tomorrow; Separate Arrangements For Ballot Boxes

Bhubaneswar: Repolling will be held on February 23 (Wednesday) in 45 centres where disruptions had taken place in the first and second phase of panchayat elections.

The Odisha State Election Commission on Tuesday informed this on Tuesday and said repoll at 30 other booths where the voting process was hampered during the third phase will be held on February 25.

However, after the re-polling the ballot boxes will be kept in a separate strong room and the main strong room will not be opened under any circumstances, said SEC Secretary Rabindra Sahu. Tight police arrangement has been for security of the ballot boxes as per the direction of SEC, he added.

Meanwhile, in the fourth phase of panchayat election on Tuesday, no untoward incident was reported from any place except cancellation of polls for one post each in Kendrapara and Jajpur.

The polling for the post of Sarpanch was cancelled in Kendrapara, and for the post of Ward Member in Jajpur due to an error in ballot papers, he added.

The state has recorded a voter turnout of 70 per cent till 1 pm.