ORISSA GRAMA PANCHAYAT ELECTION RULES, 1965
1. Short title – These rules may be called "The Orissa Grama Panchayats Election Rules, 1965"
2. Definitions – In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, -
(a)"Act" means Orissa Grama Panchayat Act, 1964
(b)"Ballot Box" means, any box, bag or any other receptacle or such design and specification as the Commissioner may decide, used for receiving ballot papers in the course of Polling at a polling station and be so constructed that ballot papers can be inserted through an opening without effecting the secrecy of voting but the ballot papers cannot be removed without opening, breaking or otherwise tampering the ballot box.
(c)"Block Development Officer" means an Officer appointed for the Block under Section 15(a) of the Orissa Panchayat samiti and Zilla Parishad Act,1959.
(c-1) "Commissioner" means the State Election Commissioner appointed under article 243-K of the Constitution.
(d)"Election Officer" means unless the Commissioner otherwise directs, the Collector of the district or any other officer or person authorised by the Collector by general or special order to exercise all or any of the powers and perform all or any of the duties of the Election Officer under these rules.
(d-1) "Electoral Registration Officer" means, unless the Commissioner otherwise directs, the Collector of the districts or any other Officer or person authorised by the Collector in that behalf ; and
(d-2) "Forms" means a form appended to these rules.
(d-3) "List" means the list of wards as referred to in clause(b) of sub-section (4) of Section 10.
(e)"Local area" means the village or group of villages notified as a Grama under Section 3 of the Act.
(f)"Polling agent" means a person duly authorised by a contesting candidate for whom votes are polled during the election in respect of one or more polling stations or places specified for counting of votes.
(g)"Polling Officer" means the person appointed by the Election Officer to assist him or the Presiding Officer for conducting the elections of one or more polling stations within the local area of one or more Grama Panchayats.
(h)"Polling Station" means the place fixed by the Election Officer for conduct of the poll in respect of Members. Sarpanch or Naib Sarpanch of the Grama Panchayat as the case may be.
(i)"Presiding Officer" means any person appointed by the Election Officer to preside over the conduct of Elections at one or more polling stations within the local area of one or more Grama Panchayats.
(j)"Section" means a Section of the Act.
(k)Words and expressions used herein but not defined shall have the same meaning as assigned to them respectively in the Act.
DIVISION OFWARDS
Preparation of Electoral Rolls and Reservation of seats
3. (1) The list of wards shall be serially numbered beginning with North-West to South-East direction.
(2)Subject to the directions issued by the Governor of Orissa under paragraph 5 of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution of India, out of the wards left in the list for candidates other than Scheduled Caste, and the Scheduled Tribe, reservations of wards, for the members of backward of citizens, shall begin from the ward which appears first and continue one by one until the required quota is completed.
(3)The statement in Form No.13 showing the total number of wards in the Grama including those reserved for the members of the Scheduled Caste, the Scheduled Tribe, the Backward classes of citizens and women and the extent of each ward shall be published at any conspicuous place of the Grama together with a notice in Form No.12 stating the date by which objection may be received.
(4)Seven days notice may be given for inviting objections.
(5)Objections or suggestions may be filed with or sent to the Collector so as to reach him within the period specified in sub-rule (4).
3-A (1) The procedure prescribed in rule 3 relating to reservation of wards for members shall mutatis mutandis apply in respect of reservation of offices of Sarpanches in a block.
(2)For the purpose of sub-rule(1), notice inviting objection and suggestions shall be issued in Form No.12 and the statement showing the offices of Sarpanches reserved for the Scheduled Caste the Scheduled Tribe and Women shall be notified in Form No. 15.
(4) (1)Where the Commissioner otherwise directs under sub-section 2 of Section 9 to have a separate electoral roll for every Ward, he may by order, direct for the preparation of such electoral roll and in such case he may prescribed, in the order, the procedure thereof including the procedure of its revision, addition or alteration to be followed.
(2)So much of the electoral roll of the Assembly Constituency, for the time being in force as it relates to the ward shall be the electoral roll in respect of the ward and for the purpose of its preparation final publication including revision, addition or alteration the procedure here in after prescribed shall apply.
(3)Every order passed under sub-rule (1) shall be published in the Official gazette.
5. (1) The Electoral Registration Officer shall split up or cause to be split up the electoral roll of the Assembly Constituency into separate electoral rolls for every ward in a grama and the electoral roll so prepared shall be the Preliminary electoral roll for the ward.
(2)The list of voters for each wad shall be prepared in the order and in the language they occur in the electoral roll for the Assembly Constituency.
(3)The Preliminary electoral roll of the ward so prepared under sub-rule (1) shall be published by the Electoral Registration Officer at a conspicuous place at the head quarters of the Gram Sasan together with a notice in Form No.2 at least three weeks before the date of issue of issue of notice under rule-24, stating the date by which objections or claims may be received and the place and date on which enquiries shall be taken up.
(4)The notice in Form No.2 issued under sub-rule (3) shall also be affixed in the notice board of the office of the concerned Panchayat Samiti, Sub-Collector and Collector.
(5)A period of seven days from the date of publication of the notice under sub-rule (3) shall be allowed for filing of objections or claims, if any.
(6) (1) No person shall be eligible to be registered in the electoral roll for more than one ward in any grama.
(2)Any person who is qualified under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act,1950 or the Orissa Grama Panchayats Act, 1964 to be registered as a voter in any Grama, shall be eligible to be registered in the electoral roll of a ward and the name of a person who is disqualified under the provisions of the said Acts shall be liable for removal from the electoral roll of the said ward.
(3)Any person who claims to be entitled to be registered as an elector and whose name is not entered in or entered in an incorrect place or manner or with incorrect particulars in the preliminary electoral roll and any person whose name is on the roll and objects to the inclusion of his name or the name of any other person in the electoral roll may prefer a claim in Form No.16 or an objection in Form No.17 to the Electoral Registration Officer for consideration any necessary corrections.
(4)Claims or objections, if any, shall be presented either in person or be sent by post.
(5)Claims and objections received after the date specified in sub-rule (5) of rule 5 shall not be considered.
7. (1) The Electoral Registration Officer shall sit at the place and on the date fixed under sub-rule (3) of rule 5 and shall hold a summary inquiry of all the claims and objections.
(2)The Electoral Registration Officer may make such further inquiry as he may deem fit with regard to a claim or an objection.
(3)The Election Registration Officer may suo moto remove the names of persons from the Electoral Roll whom he knows or has reason to believe to be dead and may also correct such entries in the electoral roll concerning clerical mistakes.
(4)The Electoral Registration Officer shall, after considering the objections or claims, prepare the final electoral roll of the ward in a register in Form No.1.
8. (1) The final Electoral roll, as published by the Electoral Registration Officer, shall be the conclusive proof of the right of every person included therein to vote.
(2)Two copies of the final electoral roll for each ward shall, after duly authenticated by the Electoral Registration Officer, be kept in his office be kept in his office and two copies thereof shall be sent to the Commission
(3)The Commissioner, on receipt of copies of the final electoral roll from the Electoral Registration Officer under sub-rule (2) shall cause to be prepared such number of copies thereof as may be required for conducting Elections to the Gram Panchayats and shall supply to the Election Officer at the time of the election.
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10.Omitted.
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12. Omitted.
12-A Omitted.
The order under Section 12 shall be issued on such date as may be recommended by the Commissioner and immediately, after it is issued the Commissioner shall, draw up the programme of Election in such manner that, as far as practicable the Election in all the wards in the Grama including the Election for the office of the Sarpanch be conducted on one and the same day and communicate the programme to all Election Officers.
14 The Election Officer shall provide a ballot box which shall have arrangements so that ballot papers can be inserted through an opening without affecting the secrecy of voting and also can not be removed without opening, breaking or otherwise tampering with the arrangements of the receptacle.
15. Inside a polling station, there shall be an enclosure, which will be used by voters for marking the ballot paper secretly.
16. The ballot boxes shall be placed in the view of the Presiding Officer.
17. There shall be ballot papers in two different colours or printed in different ink one for the Election of the Sarpanch and the other for Election of the Ward Member in form No.6 . The ballot paper for Election of the Sarpanch shall bear the following six symbols in the same order in which they are shown herein :-
- Bird
- Fish
- Sun
- Umbrella
- Cow’s head
- Ladder
The ballot paper for the Election of Ward Member shall bear the following six symbols in the same order in which they are shown herein :-
- Bullock Cart
- Scales
- Pen
- Coconut tree
- Flower
- Cycle
It shall not be necessary to show the names of the contesting candidates in the ballot papers.
(The ballot papers shall be serially numbered by the Election Officer or the Presiding Officer and shall contain the seal and signature of the Presiding Officer before they are issued to the Voters)
18. The polling shall take at the polling station during such hours as may be fixed by the Commissioner.
19. The polling station for a ward shall be located within the area of the ward provided that the Election Officer may, if necessary, have a single polling station for group of wards in which case there shall be separate compartments for each ward at the polling station.
20. The marking system of voting shall be followed. For this purpose the symbols as specified in Rule 17 shall be adopted. The list of duly nominated candidates shall be arranged in alphabetical order and symbols shall be assigned to each serially in the corresponding order in which the symbols appear in rule 17.
In case the number of contesting candidates for any seat exceeds 6, symbols shall be assigned from the following in the same order as they appear herein :-
- Elephant
- Motor Car
- Lantern
- Bull
- Human head
- Camel
- Chair
- Cottage
The ballot paper may be in print. In case the number of candidates exceeds14,the Election Officer may add a few more symbols to the list and ask the candidates to make a selection. The additional symbol shall, however, not include any symbol allotted to political parties by the Election Commission of India.
21. The ballot papers shall be marked by voters either by means of a rubber stamp or in any other suitable manner as may be decided by the Election Officer.
22. There shall be a Presiding Officer at each polling station who shall be responsible for proper conduct of polling and he shall exercise such powers of the Election Officer as may be delegated to him. There may also be Polling Officers for each polling station according to requirement to assist the Presiding Officer, as may be appointed by the Election Officer.
23. Each contesting candidate shall be allowed to appoint not more than two Polling Agents to remain present at the polling station during the poll as well as counting.
FILING AND SCRUTINY OF NOMINATIONS
24. The Election Officer shall at least six weeks before the date fixed for election, issue separate notices in Form No.3 calling for names of candidates for the office of Sarpanch of each Grama Panchayat and member for each ward of such Grama Panchayat. Such notice shall be published in every ward.
25. The Election Officer shall arrange for supply of nomination forms at the Block concerned.
26. A nomination can be presented to the Election Officer at the appointed date, time and place specified in the notice either by candidate himself or his proposer or seconder.
26-A. On the date fixed for presentation of nomination papers, each candidate intending to stand for the election as a Ward Member or for the office of Sarpanch as the case may be, shall deposit or cause to be deposited a sum of rupees fifty and hundred, respectively other than the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes with the Election Officer. In case of candidates belonging to Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste the amount of deposit to be made with the Election Officer shall be rupees twenty-five and fifty respectively. The candidate shall be given a receipt in Form No.5 prescribed under the Orissa Grama Panchayat Rules, 1968 for the amount so deposited. No candidate shall be allowed to contest or deemed to be duly nominated for election to the said office unless proper receipt in support of such deposit is annexed to the nomination paper.
26-B. If a candidate by whom or on whose behalf the deposit referred to in sub-rule (A) has been made is not elected and the number of votes polled by him does not exceed one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled, the deposit shall be forfeited and credited to the Panchayat Fund.
26-C. If the nomination in respect of a candidate by whom or on whose behalf the deposit referred to in sub-rule (A) has been made is rejected or declared invalid, or if he withdraws his candidature in the manner and within the time specified in rule 34, or if he dies before the commencement of the poll or if he, though not elected, does not forfeit his deposit under sub-rule (B), or if he is elected the deposit shall be returned to the candidate or to the person by whom the deposit was made on his behalf or in the event of the death of the candidate to his legal heir.
26-D. Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, a deposit made under sub-rule (A), shall not be returned unless a claim is preferred by the person who made the deposit or by his legal heir as the case may be to the Grama Panchayat concerned as soon as may be after the publication of the result of the election.
26-E.After the Publication under section 15 of the Act, of the names of members elected, the Election Officer shall send a list to the Gram Panchayat concerned showing separately the names of candidates to whom the deposit made by them under sub-rule ( A) shall be returned and of those the deposit made shall be forfeited to the Gram Panchayat .
27. No person shall be eligible to be a candidate for election as a Ward Member unless his name finds place in respect of a candidate for ward membership unless his name so finds place in the electoral roll for the ward.
28. No person shall be eligible to stand as a candidate for the office of Sarpanch unless his name finds place in the electoral roll of the gram. No person shall similarly be eligible to be either the proposer of seconder of a candidate for the office of Sarpanch unless his name finds place in the electoral roll of the Grama.
29.(a) The Election Officer shall at the appointed time, date and place receive nomination papers separately for the office of members and Sarapanch in Form No.4 and scrutinise them in the presence of the candidates, their proposers and seconders if any, who may be present. If he finds that the candidates are duly qualified in accordance with the provisions of section 11 and not disqualified under any of the clauses of section 25 of the Act, he shall approve their candidature. Objections, if any, filed in the course of scrutiny shall be enquired into summarily by the Election Officer and his decision accepting or rejecting the nomination papers shall be endorsed on the body of the nomination papers with reasons for the decision.
(b)The Election Officer shall not reject a nomination paper merely on account of some discrepancy between the age, name or other particulars of a candidate or his proposer or seconder as given in the nomination paper and in the Electoral Roll, provided that the Election Officer is otherwise satisfied that the identity of candidate is not in doubt and the question of eligibility is not involved.
30. If no nomination is filed or if all nominations are rejected for the office of Sarapanch of the Grama Panchayat or for the membership of any ward, a notice for fresh election shall be issued as laid down in rule 24. If there is a failure of the election so held for the second time, the Election Officer shall forthwith report the matter to the Sub-divisional Officer for nomination of a person under section 13 to fill up the vacancy. The provisions of this rule shall be applicable for election to the office of any member of the Grama Panchayat, Sarpanch or Naib-Sarpanch.
31. If after scrutiny under rule 29 the Election Officer finds that there is only one candidate each duly nominated for the office of Sarpanch of a Grama Panchayat, and for the office of member from each ward of a Grama Panchayat, there shall be no poll and the Election Officer shall immediately declare the person so nominated to have been duly elected.
(1) The Election Officer shall, immediately after the scrutiny, prepare a list of the nominated candidates in Form No.5 and arrange the names in Oriya alphabetical order.
(2)At the time of preparing the list, the Election Officer shall allot symbols to each candidate among those specified under rule 20.
(3)A copy of the list of the validly nominated candidates shall be published in the notice board of the Grama in Form No.5 at least four weeks before the date fixed for election.
(4)A validly nominated candidate for any ward or for the office or Sarpanch may withdraw candidature by presenting an application in form No.9 personally to the Election Officer with in forty eight hours after the list of validly nominated candidates has been published under sub-rule(3).
(5)Immediately after the withdrawal of nomination under sub-rule (4), the Election Officer shall publish the final list of contesting candidates in Form No.5 at least three weeks before the date of Poll.
(6)If there were only two contesting candidates including the person withdrawing his candidature under sub-rule (4), the other candidates shall be declared duly elected uncontested.
(7)The Election Officer shall proceed with election if, upon withdrawal of candidature under sub-rule (4) the number of validly nominated candidates exceeds one.
33. (a) A validly nominated candidate who has not withdrawn his candidature under sub-rule (4) of rule 32 dies and a report of his death is received by the Election Officer before publication of the final list of contesting candidates ; or
(b) a candidate dies after the publication of the final list of contesting candidates under sub-rule (4) of rule 32 and before the commencement of poll, the Election Officer shall, upon being satisfied of the fact of the death of the candidate, countermand the poll and report the fact to the Commissioner.
34. If at an election, a candidate dies at any time on or after the date of the poll but before publication of the result under section 15, there shall be no countermanding and the result shall be declared as if the candidate has not died.
35. In case upon declaration of result of the election, the deceased candidate as referred to in rule 34 declared to have been duly elected, the Election Officer shall forthwith issue a notification to the effect that casual vacancy has occurred and the provisions of these rules for conducting bye-election to fill up the casual vacancy shall be applicable in such cases.
CONDUCT OF POLLING
36. After the procedure for acceptance of nominations is completed, the Election Officer shall supply to the Presiding Officer appointed for each polling station the following papers:
(a)A list of validly nominated candidates in Form No.5 separately for offices of Sarpanch and Ward members concerned.
(b)A working copy of the electoral roll for the ward for use of the Presiding Officer.
(c)Another copy of the electoral roll of the ward to be exhibited at the polling station.
(d)Required number of ballot papers for the office of Sarpanch as also Ward Members in Form No.6
(e)Form No. 7 for ballot paper account,
(f)Form No. 8 for recording the results of counting,
(g)Form No.8-A for recording the results of counting of votes to the office of Sarpanch.
37. It shall be the responsibility of the Presiding Officer to proceed to the polling station well in advance of the time fixed for the poll and make the required arrangement so as to ensure that polling commences exactly at the time notified.
38. Shortly before the commencement of the poll, a copy of the list of contesting candidates for each office arranged in alphabetical order together with a description of the symbol assigned to each shall be exhibited prominently at the polling station. A copy of the electoral roll, a notice specifying the polling station area and the date and time of poll shall also be exhibited.
39. The Presiding Officer shall examine the authority of the polling agents authorised by the candidates and decide the admissibility according to rules. He may also fix up one or two local persons who may be of assistance in identifying voters.
40. Immediately before the commencement of the poll, the Presiding Officer shall demonstrate to the candidates and the voters present that the ballot box is empty and is either locked up or so secured by any device that ballot papers can be inserted therein but cannot be withdrawn except by breaking or otherwise tampering with the box.
41.(a) Polling shall then commence at the appointed hour.
(b) As each voter approaches the Presiding Officer, he shall check up the eligibility with reference to the working copy of the electoral roll and issue a ballot paper to the voter for the office of Sarpanch after putting an indelible ink mark on his left forefinger. The Presiding Officer shall clearly explain to each voter the procedure to be followed in putting his mark. The voter shall then proceed alongwith the ballot paper to the enclosure and affix a mark secretly against the candidate whom he wishes to vote either with the stamp provided for the purpose or by any other method as may be decided by the Presiding Officer. After affixing the mark the voter should fold the ballot paper on the inner side so as to maintain secrecy of the vote and then will insert the fold ballot paper into the box specified for the purpose.
(c) The Presiding Officer shall then issue another ballot paper for the officer of Ward Member ( At the time of issuing such ballot paper, the voter shall on being asked allow his left forefinger to be marked with indelible ink if no such marking is already made as per the foregoing sub-rule.) The voter shall then proceed alongwith ballot paper to the enclosure and affix a mark secretly against the candidate whom he wishes to vote either with the stamp provided for the purpose or by any other method as may be decided by the Presiding Officer. After affixing the mark the voter should fold the ballot paper on the inner side so as to maintain secrecy of the vote and then will insert the fold ballot paper into the box specified for the purpose.
(d) Any reference in this rule to the left forefinger of a voter shall, in the case where the voter has his left forefinger missing, be construed as a reference to any other finger of his left hand and shall in the case where all the fingers of his left hand are missing, be construed as a reference to the forefinger or, as the case may be any other finger of his right hand and shall in the case where all his fingers of both the hands are missing, be construed as a reference to such extremity of his left or right arm as he possesses.
42. In case of a voter who is physically incapacitated or is blind the Presiding Officer shall, at the request of such voter, allow him to take a companion to the place set apart for voting.
After the issue of the ballot papers, the Presiding Officer shall tick-mark the name of the voter in the working copy of the electoral roll.
44. (1)Any contesting candidates or his authorised polling agent may object to the identity of a voter on the only ground that he is not the person he claims to be as per entry in the electoral roll. For every objection a fee of Rs.2 shall be deposited with the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer shall decide the objection summarily and the decision shall be final. If the objection is rejected the deposit shall be forfeited. If on the other hand, the objection is allowed, the deposit shall be refunded to the person who deposited the amount.
(2)In case of forfeiture of deposit under sub-rule (1), a receipt in form No.5 prescribed under the Orissa Grama Panchayat Rules, 1968 shall be issued to the person who has made the deposit.
A Presiding Officer shall so regulate the entry of voters that polling proceeds in an orderly manner. All registered voters who appear between the hours fixed for the poll within the polling station shall be allowed to vote. No voter shall be admitted inside the polling station after the time fixed for the poll is over.
When a Presiding Officer is unable to remain at the polling station for reasons beyond his control, he will authorise one of the Polling Officers, if so appointed, to act as the Presiding Officer. In the absence of any such Polling Officer, the Presiding Officer in the aforesaid circumstances.
After the close of polling the Presiding Officer shall proceed to take up counting of the votes polled in the presence of the candidates and their polling agents who may be present at the polling stations. He shall first take up counting of the votes in the ballot box relating to the membership of the ward. Each ballot paper shall be carefully scrutinized by the Presiding Officer in the course of counting and a ballot paper shall be liable to rejection on one or more of the following grounds, namely:-
(a)If it bears any mark or writing by which the voter can be identified,
(b)if no vote is recorded thereon,
(c)if votes are recorded in favour of more than one candidate,
(d)if the mark indicating the vote is placed in such a manner so as to make it doubtful as to which candidate the vote has been given,
(e)if the ballot paper is spurious,
(f)if it so damaged or mutilated that its genuineness cannot be established,
(g)if it is of a design different from the one authorised for use at the polling station.
(h)if it does not bear the seal and signature of the Presiding Officer.
The Presiding Officer shall summarily decide at the time of scrutiny and in case of rejection shall so endorse under his signature on the ballot paper itself. He shall also record the reason for each ballot paper so rejected in a separate paper.
The result of counting the ballot paper in respect of membership of the Grama Panchayat shall be recorded in Form No.8. The Presiding Officer shall forthwith declare the candidate securing the largest number of votes to have been duly elected. In case of an equality of vote the results shall be decided by draw of lots and the person whose name is drawn first should be declared to have been duly elected by the presiding Officer. In either case the Presiding Officer shall record in Form No.8 the name of the person declared by him to be elected.
The Presiding Officer shall next proceed to count the ballot paper relating to the office of Sarpanch of the Grama Panchayat in accordance with the aforesaid procedure.
The results of counting the ballot papers in the ballot box relating to office of Sarpanch shall be recorded in Form No.8-A. The Presiding Officer may announce the votes polled by each contesting candidate.
51.(1) Immediately after the close of counting, the Presiding Officer shall prepare separate bundles of all the papers, reports and unused ballot papers in respect of polling for the office of Sarpanch and polling for the membership of the Grama Panchayat and forward two packets duly sealed to the Election Officer for the local area. It will be open for the candidates or their polling agents to affix their seals to the aforesaid packets. On the date fixed for declaring the result of elections to the office of Sarpanch, the Election Officer shall carefully total the election results received from different Presiding Officers in the presence of the candidates concerned, their polling agents as may be present and declare the result in Form No.8-B after recording in a separate report the total number of the votes polled by each contesting candidate. The candidates securing the largest number of votes shall be declared duly elected as the Sarpanch. In the case of an equality of votes, the result shall be decided by drawing lots and the candidate whose name is drawn first shall be declared elected:
(2)After the declaration under sub-rule (1) has been made a candidate or, in his absence, his polling agent may apply in writing to the Election Officer to recount the votes either wholly or in part stating the grounds for such recounting.
(3)On an application made under sub-rule (2) the Election Officer shall decide the matter and may allow the application in whole or in part or may reject it in toto if it appears to him to be frivolous or unreasonable.
(4)Every decision of the Election Officer under sub-rule (3) shall be in writing and contain the reasons therefor.
(5)If the Election Officer decides under sub-rule (3) to allow recounting of the votes either wholly or in part, he shall,-
(a)make the recounting in accordance with rule 47;
(b)make necessary corrections in the result sheet in form No.8-B to the extent necessary after such recounting; and
(c)announce the result on the basis of corrections so made by him; and
If on the basis of the reports of the Presiding Officers of each ward in regard to election of ward members and his own report relating to election of the Sarpanch, the Election Officer finds that majority of members including the Sarpanch have been duly returned, he shall publish the names of the Sarpanch and also the ward members declared duly elected to each Grama Panchayat in the Notice Board of the Block office as required under section 15 of the Act. A copy of the notification shall be for warded by the Election Officer to the Collector of the district where Election officer is other than the Collector and also to the Grama Panchayat concerned and to Ward Member and Sarpanch elected.
53.Omitted.
In case there is a failure of election for the second time for any seat, the Election Officer shall forthwith intimate the position to the Sub-Collector. On receipt of such intimation the Sub-Collector shall nominate a person to such seat with the least practicable delay and inform the Election officers so that he may include the name of the nominated person in the notification under section 15 of the Act. The Sub-Collector shall also forward a copy of the list of nominated persons to the Collector.
55.When it is necessary to hold elections for the second time in any case in the course of a general election, the procedure prescribed in the forgoing rules for the conduct of elections shall apply subject to the following modifications, namely:-
(i) It shall not be necessary either to publish the electoral roll or to invite objections.
(ii) The Election Officer shall issue notice calling for names of candidates for the office of Sarpanch or Member of Grama Panchayat as the case may be atleast two weeks before the date fixed for election.
56. (1)The documents relating to election proceedings received from the Presiding Officers and prepared by the Election Officer shall be retained in safe custody in the office of the Election Officer for a period of three months and shall then unless otherwise directed by a competent Court, be destroyed.
(2)The documents or records referred to in sub-rule (1) in the custody of the Election Officer shall not be opened or inspected or produced save with the prior permission of the Commissioner or of a competent Court.
57. The Collector shall consolidate the result of election of all the Grama Panchayats and prepare a list indicating the names of Sarpanches and a Ward Members and shall furnish the same to the Commissioner together with copies of notifications issued by the Election Officers under section 15.
73. On the date fixed by the Commissioner under sub-rule (2) of rule 13, the Election Officer shall convene the special meeting of the Grama Panchayat and for the purpose, may appoint a Presiding Officer.
74. Unless the Commissioner otherwise directs, the meeting referred in rule 73 shall be held in the office of the Grama Panchayat or any other convenient place at the headquarters of the Grama Panchayat as may be decided by the Election Officer.
75. The Presiding Officer shall cause a notice of such meeting to be given to the Sarpanch and every other member at least seven clear days before the date of such meeting. The notice shall be served personally or in default by registered post. Such notice shall also be published by fixing it in the Panchayat Office it one exists, or at any prominent place at the headquarters of the Grama Panchayat. The said notice shall state the place and date on which and hours between which the election shall be conducted.
76. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary contained in these rules, the following procedure shall be followed for conducting the Election to the office of the Naib-Sarpanch.
(a)All the members other than the Sarpanch shall be eligible to stand for the office of the Naib-Sarpanch.
(b)The Presiding Officer shall proceed to conduct the election, if a majority of the member of the Grama Panchayat are present on the date and at the time fixed for the purpose.
If a majority of the members are not present, no election shall be made and a fresh notice shall be issued in accordance with the foregoing rules fixing another date. In case of failure of election for the second time, the Presiding Officer shall report the result to the Election Officer who shall thereupon move the Sub-Collector for nomination of a Naib-Sarpanch in pursuance of the provisions of section 13. On the nomination of Naib-Sarpanch by the Sub divisional Officer, the Election Officer shall publish the name of the person so nominated in the notice board of the Block Office as required under section 15.
(c) If a majority of the members are present on the date fixed for the first or second meeting as the case may be, the Presiding Officer shall call upon the members to elect a Naib-Sarpanch from among themselves and allow time for one hour to receive nominations in Form No.4.
(d)Every nomination paper shall be signed by two members as proposer and seconder and the candidate should sign a declaration on it expressing his willingness to stand for election. Every nomination paper shall be presented by the candidate himself or his proposer or seconder to the Presiding Officer at the meeting.
(e)After expiry of the time allotted for receiving nomination papers, the Presiding Officer shall proceed to scrutinise the nomination papers. Scrutiny shall be made only with a view to check if nomination is duly proposed and seconded and also accepted by the candidate. It shall be open to the Presiding Officer to get omissions rectified then and there. No objections on any other ground whatsoever shall been entertained in respect of nominations.
(f)if only a single candidate is nominated, he shall be declared elected forthwith.
(g)In case no nomination is filed within the time allowed, the Presiding Officer shall allow one more hour for filing nominations and this shall be treated as an election for the second time. If no nomination is filed on the second occasion also, the Presiding Officer shall report the result to the Election Officer who shall thereupon move the Sub-collector for nomination of the Naib-Sarpanch.
(h)In the event of there being a contest, the Presiding Officer shall announce the names of the contesting candidates and shall proceed to hold the poll then and there.
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77. Every member present and wishing to vote shall be supplied with a ballot paper in Form No.10 which may be either printed or in manuscript and duly authenticated by the signature of the Presiding Officer. Names of the duly nominated candidates shall be printed, typed or cyclostyled or legibly written in ink on the ballot paper in the alphabetical order. It shall not be necessary to assign symbols.
78. The voter shall then proceed to a place set a part for voting and secretly put a cross mark either with a stamp that may be supplied by the Presiding Officer or by any other means against the name of the candidate to whom he wishes to vote. He shall then fold the paper so as to conceal the vote and deposit the same in a ballot box placed in view of the Presiding Officer.
79. The procedure outlined in rule 14 to 16, 18,19,40,41 and 47 regarding the description of the ballot boxes to be provided, the exhibition of boxes before commencement of the poll, the arrangements for ensuring secrecy of ballot, the opening of boxes after the close of poll, the counting and scrutiny of ballot papers and the presence of candidates shall apply mutatis mutandis to the election of Naib-Sarpanch.
80. Immediately after voting is over, the Presiding Officer shall count the votes in the presence of the members, as may be present and declare the candidate securing the largest number of valid votes to have been elected. In the event of there being an equality of votes, the Presiding Officer shall draw lots. The candidate whose name is first drawn shall be declared to have been elected. The Presiding Officer shall thereupon communicate the result forthwith along with the connected election papers to the Election Officer. The election paper shall be forwarded in sealed packets and the provision of rule 56 regarding preservation of these papers shall apply.
81. The Election Officer shall thereupon publish the name of the Naib-Sarpanch duly elected or nominated in the notice board of the Block Office as required under section 15. He shall forward a copy of the notification to the Collector as also to the Grama Panchayat concerned.
82.Omitted.
83. Any person elected or nominated as a Sarpanch or Naib-Sarpanch or any other members of the Grama Panchayat shall be deemed to have entered office with effect from the date of publication of his name in the notice board of the Block Office in accordance with provisions of section 15.
BYE-ELECTIONS TO FILL UP CASUAL VACANCIES
84. When a vacancy arises in the Office of Sarpanch, Naib-Sarpanch or any other Member of a Grama Panchayat occurring otherwise then afflux of time or supersession of dissolution, the Sarpanch or the Naibsarpanch as the case may be, shall forthwith report the fact to the Sub-Collector. Any other Officer empowered by the State Government or the Collector to inspect a Grama Panchayat may also draw the attention of the Sub-Collector, to th