The State Election Commission has officially announced that the District Council and Panchayat Samiti elections will take place in Punjab soon. A press conference was held to give all major updates. As per the announcement, voting will be held on Sunday, December 14, and the counting of votes will be done on December 17.
These elections are receiving a lot of attention because voting will be done on a ballot paper, and many big changes have been introduced this time. Let’s look at every important detail step-by-step for easy understanding.
Rules For Voters & Candidate To Follow During Elections
The Election Commission has announced that 50% seats will be reserved for women. A total of 19,181 booths will be prepared, and each polling booth will have two separate boxes, one for the Zilla Parishad and one for the Panchayat Samiti.
Around 40,000 EVMs are required for the elections, but Punjab cannot use them because the Election Commission does not provide EVMs to any state for this category of election. Therefore, ballot paper voting will be used.
There is one Zila Parishad in every district of Punjab, with 357 zones in total. One member will be elected from each zone. For Panchayat Samiti, the state has 154 Panchayat Samitis, and together they have 2,863 zones.
One member will be elected from every zone. The number of voters in rural areas is 1 crore 36 lakh 4 thousand.
The minimum age for a candidate is 21 years, and the candidate must be a voter of the zone from where they are contesting. Both the proposer and seconder must also belong to the same zone.
Spending & Security Plan For Punjab Elections
Candidates must fill out Form No. 4 for nomination. The fee for Zila Parishad elections is Rs 400, and for Panchayat Samiti elections it is Rs 200.
For candidates belonging to the SC or VC category, the fee becomes half. If any officer demands more money than the fixed fee, a complaint can be filed directly with the Election Commission.
A self-declaration form is mandatory. It must include income details, liabilities, ongoing court cases, and other personal information. SC and VC candidates must also provide valid caste certificates.
Candidates can now contest independently, which was not allowed earlier. They can also request sponsorship from six political parties if they want. The maximum spending limit for Zila Parishad candidates is Rs 255,000, while for Panchayat Samiti candidates it is Rs 110,000.
A total of 96,000 polling staff will be on duty for the election. For security, 50,000 police personnel will be deployed, and 75% of the total police force will be active in districts, including the Special Task Force and Reserve Police.