As expected, the State Election Commission (SEC) on Friday announced the dates for the conduct of the urban local body (ULB) elections in Odisha.
Announcing the dates, the State Election Commissioner (SEC) Aditya Prasad Padhi said that the elections to 106 Municipalities/NACs and three Municipal Corporations will be held on March 24, 2022.
The general elections will be held for the purpose of reconstituting/constituting the 106 municipalities/NACs and three municipal corporations - Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC).
According to Padhi, the notice for the upcoming polls will be issued on February 28. With this announcement, the model code of conduct has come into immediate effect from today.
It is pertinent to mention here that the elections to urban local bodies were overdue since December 2018 and in some cases from July 2019.
Schedule:
Issue of Notice: February 28
Filing of Nominations—From March 2 to March 7
Scrutiny: March 9
Withdrawal of nominations: Upto March 14
Voting: March 24
Counting of votes: March 26
Election of Deputy Mayor: April 8
Vice Chairperson Election: April 7
Details:
106 municipalities/NACs (47 municipalities and 59 NACs)
Total number of wards: 1731
Total booths: 3030
Total Voters: Over 27 lakh
3 Municipal Corporations
Total number of wards: 168
Total booths: 1407
Voters: Over 14 lakh
Key Highlights
There will direct elections for the post of Mayor in corporation area and chairpersons in municipalities/NACs.
-Two EVMs will be used in each booth- one to elect Mayor and another for corporators and councillors.
-There will be none-of-the-above (NOTA) option for voters in the EVMs.