Filing of nominations for two-phased GP polls in district begins: DK DC Dr Rajendra

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada district’s Deputy Commissioner Dr KV Rajendra stated on December 7 that the process for filing of nomination papers for the upcoming gram panchayat elections has begun.

Speaking at a news conference at his office he said that elections for 3,222 seats in 220 gram panchayats in the district will be held in two phases on December 22 and 27. Ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines will be used in this elections.

In the first phase, voting will be held in 106 gram panchayats and in the second phase in 114 gram panchayats. 1,526 polling booths will be set up which will have 2,626 pooling boxes, he added.

There are a total of 10,39,096 voters in the district which includes 5,12,808 males and 5,26,288 females. 220 election officials and 233 assistant election officials will be appointed for the polling exercise and they will be provided with proper training to conduct the polls, he said.

Assistant Commissioners and tehsildars have been assigned the responsibility of printing the ballot papers. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, steps will be taken to follow the COVID-19 guidelines especially maintaining distancing norms. Additionally, the number of polling booths have also been increased to avoid crowding, the DC said.