State EC starts process to get new ballot boxes

Kolkata: State election commission has started the process of procuring new ballot boxes and also the verification of old boxes.

According to sources, the commission has started the tendering process for procuring the new ballot boxes. At the same time it has been examining the old ballot boxes which were used during the last Panchayat polls in 2018.

Around 2,28,000 ballot boxes were used during the last Panchayat polls in the state when around 5 crore people had exercised their electoral franchise. There were around 57,000 polling stations in the state in 2018 when the panchayat election took place.

During the last Panchayat election, there were four ballot boxes at each polling station. The commission is examining the old ballot boxes to find out how many of them can be used in the forthcoming elections.

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in the state on Thursday published the final photo electoral roll of Bengal. The State Election Commission will determine the list of the voters who will cast their votes during the Panchayat elections which may take place in April-May this year. On the basis of the total number of voters, the commission will determine the number of polling stations which will be set up to conduct the elections.

As per the final list issued by the CEO office, the number of total electors on the final publication stands at 7,52,08,377. The number has been increased from what remained at 7,42,88,233 on the draft publication.