The State election authority, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, has received a fillip with the allocation of additional staff in the run-up to the next Assembly elections likely to be held towards the year-end.
Orders have been issued creating 89 posts in the CEO’s office for discharging poll-related duties till the election process is completed. Close to 220 new posts have been allotted to the districts and another 522 posts for working under the supervision of the returning officers for smooth conduct of the polls.
With the dates for the announcement of the schedule for the elections approaching fast, senior officials have directed the district collectors to identify staff who could be made part of the flying squads, expenditure monitoring teams, and other election-related duties. The district collectors have accordingly been asked to prepare a list of staff available in their jurisdiction so that their names could be finalised for respective duties. “The district collectors, who are also district election officers, have been asked to prepare the lists by July 20,” a senior official told The Hindu.
The ensuing election will have new electronic voting machines deployed in all the 34,867 polling stations spread across the State. The appointment of booth-level officers for all these polling stations had been completed. Training for these officers will commence from Wednesday and BLOs would be imparted necessary training in batches in different districts spanning more than a week.
The election authority is presently engaged in putting in place the returning and assistant returning officers to monitor the poll proceedings. “The work is being carried out in line with the guidelines issued by the Election Commission. The returning officers/assistant returning officers should not be working in the same place for more than three years. Accordingly, the process for transfer of such officers who have put in more than three years of service will be completed by July 31,” the official said.
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