SEC may finalise rolls by month end

The voters’ list used in the Assembly election will be retained after additions and deletions in the latest drive, according to officials. “The final list is expected to be completed by the end of this month,” they said. While the poll date is yet to be fixed, officials are apprehensive that they might have to burn the midnight oil to complete the other formalities. 

Recently, 104 district officials were trained in operating the electronic voting machine (EVM) by technical staff of the government-owned Bharat Electronics Corporation (BEL). J Sampath and Dr M Elangovan, both IAS officers, have been appointed as Principal Election Officers (PEO) for panchayats and municipalities, respectively.

While EVMs will be used in urban regions, ballots will continue in rural areas, where a voter will have to cast up to five votes. While the ballots for councillors of town panchayats, municipalities and corporations will be in white, those for chairpersons of municipalities and town panchayats and village panchayat presidents will be in pink. Polling slips for vice presidents and ward members will be in white-blue and those for panchayat union ward members will be in green. The slips will be yellow in colour for district panchayat members. 

Officials also that said the expenditure limit for contestants in the three-tier panchayat raj system has also been finalised. “The lowest is Rs 5,625 for village panchayat ward member, followed by Rs 22,500 for panchayat presidents, Rs 56,250 for panchayat union ward members and Rs 1,12,500 for district panchayat ward members,” officials said. 

Similarly, it will be Rs 11,250 and Rs 56,250 for town panchayat ward members and chairpersons respectively. Grade I and II municipal councillor candidates are allowed to spend Rs 22,500 while the maximum limit for municipal chairperson candidates is Rs 1,12,500. The limit has been set at Rs 56,250 for special and selection grade municipal councillors, Rs 2,25,000 for special and selection grade municipal chairpersons, Rs 33,750 for councillors of corporations (other than Chennai).