Bhubaneswar: The State Election Commission (SEC) is going to implement the new rules for elections to the posts of Zilla Parishad President and Vice-President, which will be held on March 13 and 25, respectively.
The state government has recently amended the Odisha Zilla Parishad Election Rules, 1994, by adding another clause.
The new clause provides for the appointment of agents by every party and the election officer will allow the authorised agents to verify the votes cast by the elected Zilla Parishad members of their respective parties as is being done during the Rajya Sabha elections, SEC officials said.
As per the new norms, during the indirect elections to the Zilla Parishad President and Vice-President posts, all the members will have to show their votes to the political agent appointed by their own party before dropping it in the vote box.
The parties will have to submit details on appointment of authorised agents in a prescribed form to the electoral officer by 5.30 p.m. a day prior to the election, the officials said.
As per the schedule, an interested elected Zilla Parishad member can submit his or her nomination paper for the President or Vice-President poll in between 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. on the election day.
The nominations will be scrutinised in the next one hour while the candidates can withdraw their nominations by 1 p.m. If required, voting will be held from 1.30 to 4 p.m. and then the result will be declared.
