Finance
The Odisha Panchayat elections are likely to be postponed, as the State Election Commission (SEC) intends to submit the election notification until after the 2027 Census is completed.
The SEC aims to complete the Panchayat elections by June 2027. The notification for the polls is planned to be sent in April 2027, when the census is completed.
As part of its preparations, the Commission has already met with Revenue Divisional Commissioners (RDCs) and District Collectors. On July 21, a review conference with district officials will be held via video conferencing to assess efforts to date.
First, the State Election Commission will conduct a door-to-door survey ahead of the elections to improve the efficiency of the electoral process. In addition, a booth-by-booth poll will be done to identify problems in voter lists.
Speaking about the preparations, State Election Commission Secretary Santosh Kumar Dash stated that the survey will assist enhance the accuracy of electoral rolls, make voting more convenient for people, and increase voter engagement.
“Due to the ongoing SIR work, the Panchayat elections will be slightly delayed this time. The SIR work will continue till the first week of March. It is not possible to conduct elections until the work is completed. Earlier, Panchayat elections were mostly held in the month of February. But this time, both Panchayat and Municipal elections will be held in April-May 2027”, he stated.
He said that voters from several locations are currently assigned to the same polling booth, causing hassle and low attendance. The survey aims to address these shortcomings and build an updated and error-free electoral database. Following the survey, the Commission will distribute booth-specific voter lists.
This ensures that voters listed under a booth are from the same geographical area and vote at their designated polling station.
