BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government on Wednesday issued notifications for amendment of the election rules for panchayats, panchayat samitis and zilla parishads which state that counting of polls will now be held at block-level after completion of all phases of elections.
The State government had earlier published the draft notification for amendment of the election rules. As no objections or suggestions were received after 15 days as stipulated, the draft notifications was notified.
As per the amendments, the counting of ballots will not take place at the booths on the election day as has been done so far. It has proposed that all ballot boxes will be sent to the office of the election officer after every phase of the elections.
Since this process will need more ballot boxes, the State Election Commission (SEC) has directed the collectors to make necessary arrangements. In 2017 panchayat elections, the counting of votes was held on the day of polling which revealed the names of winning candidates. Panchayat polls in the State are expected to be held after February 2022.