No early polls, January date for final electoral rolls
BHUBANESWAR: Putting an end to the speculation over snap polls, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Odisha Surendra Kumar on Tuesday said the final list of voters in the State will be released on January 4, 2019. Addressing the media, Kumar said the number of voters in Odisha as per the existing list was 3.12 crore of which 1.61 crore were males, 1.51 crore females and 2,151 transgenders.
Ahead of the General Elections, the draft voter list will be released on September 1, 2018 while the last date for registration of grievances and complaints will be October 31. Grievances and complaints will be settled by November 31 after which the final list of voters will be published on January 4 next year.
The CEO said Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will be used for the first time during General Elections in Odisha. Earlier, VVPAT machines had been used during Bijepur by-election in the State.
Around 96,000 VVPAT machines will be provided to the State by ECIL Hyderabad. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will also be used along with VVPAT during the polls. The EVMs will be brought from Chhattisgarh, Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
Kumar further said warehouses will be readied for safe keeping of the EVMs and VVPATs by September this year. The State Government has been asked to fill up vacant posts of polling official. Steps are also being taken for appointment of two Deputy CEOs and one Joint CEO in the office of the State Election Commissioner, he said.
This apart, special arrangements such as availability of ramps and wheelchairs for differently-abled persons and deployment of NSS, Scout and Guide volunteers will also be put in place during polling.
Preparations are on to conduct the General Elections in April or May next year, the CEO added.