Panchayat Polls: Fake Voters Beware, Cautions Odisha Election Commission

The Odisha State Election Commission on Sunday cautioned fake voters to stay away from polling and warned stringent action against anyone caught attempting to cast vote by impersonating another voter.  

To exercise their franchise, a voter must have his/her name in the electoral roll of the ward where he/she is voting, said the Secretary of State Election Commission Rabindra Nath Sahu. “If a poling agent suspects the identity of a voter, the former can challenge the latter’s voting right. For that, the poling agent has to deposit a fee of Rs 2 with the presiding officer,” informed Sahu. 

“The presiding officer will carry out an on the spot inspection to ascertain the veracity of the allegation. If the voter in question is found out to be a genuine one, the fee amount will be forfeited and he/she will be allowed to cast vote,” he further added. 

Regarding the action to be taken against fake voters, Sahu said, “If the allegation is proved to be a genuine one, the fee amount will be returned to the agent and the fake voter will be handed over to the police. In case the fake voter has already cast his vote before being identified, his/her vote won’t be counted.”

Notably, voting to the three-tier Panchayati Raj bodies in Odisha will be held on every alternate day in five phases, starting from February 16 and ending on February 24. The polling will commence at 7 am and continue till 1 pm on the mentioned days.

Ten days after the first phase of polling, the counting will be held on three days on February 26, 27 and 28. The first phase counting will be held in 315 Zilla Parishads and the Panchayats under them on February 26.

Similarly, on February 27 and 28, counting will take place in 307 and 231 Zilla Parishads respectively. 

This time, there will be central counting in block offices instead of in booths.