1.08 lakh voters to cast ballot in Legislative Council polls

As many as 1.08 lakh voters from 6,516 local bodies across the State will be eligible to vote in the elections to 25 seats of the Legislative Council from the local authorities’ constituencies.

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Thursday, State chief electoral officer Anil Kumar Jha said that for the first time ballot papers would have photographs of the candidates. Elected representatives from both rural and urban local bodies, including gram, taluk and zilla panchayats and city corporations, city municipal councils, town municipal councils and town panchayats, form the electoral college for the December 27 Legislative Council polls.

Nominations opened on Wednesday and December 9 is the last date for filing the papers, Jha said. Preferential system of voting will be followed and the voters have the option of selecting None of the Above (NOTA). The election code of conduct is already in place, but there is no ceiling on the election expenditure, he said.

Local body offices will be converted into polling stations on the election day, Jha said.