Odisha Municipal Election to be held on March 24: Check complete schedule here

Bhubaneswar: The election of three Municipal Corporations and NACs across Odisha will be held on March 24, 2022, informed State Election Commissioner Aditya Prasad Padhi in a press conference on Friday. The code of conduct for the upcoming Urban Polls came into effect from today.

Reportedly, the notification for Odisha Urban Polls will be issued on February 28, 2022, following which the nominations will be filed between March 2, 2022, and March 7, 2022.

The scrutiny of the nomination paper will be held on March 9, 2022. The candidates can withdraw their nomination up to March 14, 2022.

The eligible people can cast their votes on March 24, 2022, in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), and all other Notified Area Council (NAC).

Thereafter the counting of votes will take place on March 26, 2022. The indirect election of Vice Chair Person will take place on April 7, 2022, and for Deputy Mayor, the poll will take place on April 8, 2022. There will be a direct election for the posts of Mayor and Chairperson this year.

The elections will be held in 106 Urban Local Bodies including 47 municipalities, 59 NACs and three Municipal Corporations namely BMC, CMC, BeMC.

A total of 41 lakh citizens will cast their votes in the Odisha Municipal Elections. The final voter list for BMC and CMC has already been released. As many as 7,25,765 citizens in 67 wards will cast their votes at 705 booths in Bhubaneswar. Out of the 7,25,765 voters, 3,94,510 are male while 3,30,815 are female and 440 voters belong to the ‘others’ category.

Similarly, 4,50,759 citizens in 59 wards will cast their votes in Cuttack. Out of the 4,50,759 voters, 2,31,030 are male while 2,19,598 are female and 131 voters belong to the ‘others’ category.

The voting for Councillor and Corporator posts will be held through Electronic voting machines (EVM) in the upcoming Municipal Elections. Each booth will be provided with two EVMs. There will be one EVM for the posts of Councillor and Corporator while another for Mayor and Chairperson.

The polls for Odisha Municipal Election will be held for 110 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) including 48 Municipalities, 59 Notified Area Councils (NACs), and three Municipal Corporations including BMC, CMC, and BeMC.

SEC has also directed that the option NOTA (None Of The Above) will be provided to the electors for the General Elections to Urban Local Bodies. The words ‘ଉପୋରକ୍ତ ପ୍ରାର୍ଥୀଙ୍କ ମଧ୍ୟରୁ କେହି ନୁହନ୍ତି’ (None Of The Above Candidate) shall be printed in the last panel after the last candidate.

It is to be noted that there will be ballot papers of two different colours to be used in the elections to Municipalities/NACs as well as Municipal Corporations. The colour of Ballot Papers for the Corporators/Councilor will be ‘Pink’ and Mayor/Chairperson will be ‘Yellow’ in the exercise of powers vested in it under Article 243 ZA of the Constitution.

The Ballot Papers are to be printed will be pasted in the Ballot Unit of the EVM. It will be used for Election Duty Certificate (EDC) and Tendered Vote.

Adding to it, the submission of affidavits by the candidates has been made compulsory as the non-submission will result in the cancellation of the nomination. The candidates are required to submit two affidavits this time including a list of educational qualifications and assets while the other affidavit will have information about family.