No Election Program Announced by State Election Commission
The State Election Commission recently released a notification on July 5, 2023, regarding the voter list for the upcoming Local Self-Government elections. However, it is important to note that no election program has been announced in the notification. State Election Commissioner U.P.S. Madan clarified that apart from the Gram Panchayat elections, the Supreme Court has issued orders regarding the elections of all other local bodies, stating that they should be conducted similarly. Therefore, there is no need to announce a separate election program.
Madan further explained that separate voter lists are not prepared for local self-government elections. Instead, the voter lists of the assembly constituencies are utilized and divided ward-wise. A specific cut-off date is determined for the use of Assembly Constituency Lists in all upcoming general and by-elections for local bodies. The notification published on July 5, 2023, establishes July 1, 2023, as the cut-off date for the upcoming local body elections.
The cut-off date is periodically set to ensure the use of updated voter lists from assembly constituencies for local body elections. It is important to understand that this notification does not serve as an actual election program. Madan emphasized that if the general or by-elections are not conducted within the mentioned period, a new notification will be issued to establish a revised cut-off date.
