The much awaited Mayoral election in Ranchi will take place on June 23 from 7 am to 5 pm at 901 polling booths located at 257 different locations. Over 7 lakh voters will exercise their franchise through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) under tight security.
‘Nota’ have been introduced for the first time in these Mayoral elections according to the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India. Mayoral election, which was to take place on April 8, 2013 in Ranchi, was cancelled after it got into controversy after Rs 22.9 lakh were recovered from a hotel room in Ranchi during a raid conducted by the Ranchi police.
State Election Commissioner (SEC) Shiv Basant talking to the media persons on Friday announced the schedule for the Mayoral Polls and said that the commission will have a hoax eye on the adherence of Model Code of Conduct by the candidates. The electoral roll however, will remain the same as lok Sabha Elections.
“Voting hours for the Mayoral polls have been extended for one hour for the convenience of the voters and the police department as well as Income Tax officials have been asked to ensure to beef up their intelligence network so that no code of conduct is violated during the poll process,” said Basant. According to the SEC, control Rooms at State Elections Commission as well as SSP office will be established to keep a tab on the activities of the candidates.
Voter lists to the voters will also be issued to the voters, like lok Sabha Elections, he added.
District Administration has also been asked to start preparing for the polls. “We have discussed the deployments plans with the SEC and the ADG (l&O) and employees of only state government will be deployed for the polls as we have adequate number of it,” said Ranchi DC Vinay KumarChaubey. Examinees of JPSC exams will be spared from the poll duty, added Chaubey.