CURATED BY – RAJIV KHARE | CITYCHIEFNEWS

Raipur, The upcoming panchayat and urban body elections in Chhattisgarh will be held this time with ballot paper instead of electronic voting machine (EVM). Preparations for urban body and panchayat elections in Chhattisgarh have gained momentum. These elections are to be held before the CBSE board examinations. State Urban Administration Minister Arun Saw announced on Friday that this time voting will be done with the traditional ballot paper system. He said that this decision has been taken due to the delay in the preparation of EVMs.

According to the State Election Commission, the state government has taken this decision after seeing the possibility of time being taken in arranging such a large number of EVMs. The use of ballot paper will further increase the confidence of the public and the process is being made more transparent in this regard.

Change in election process

With this change, voters will now have to go to the polling stations and mark the name of their candidate on the ballot paper. For this, the Election Commission has started the process of printing and distributing ballot papers in all the districts.

Political reactions
Political parties have responded positively to this decision. Congress called it a step taken in the interest of the public and said that this will strengthen confidence in the electoral process. While the BJP has called it a proper step in the electoral process in the current circumstances.

The State Election Commission has said that all officers and employees will be trained for the use of ballot papers. Also, a special monitoring mechanism will be established to make the voting process smooth and transparent.

The Election Commission will soon announce the dates for the urban body elections. Elections are going to be held soon for panchayat and urban bodies in the state, which include Nagar Nigam, Nagar Palika and Nagar and Gram Panchayat.

With this decision, Chhattisgarh once again seems to be returning to the traditional voting process, which can give rise to new debate in the electoral process.