Nagaland State prepares for ULB elections

March 5, 2024 11 Views No Comment

SEC announces Special Summary Revision of e-roll of municipals & town councils

Our Correspondent
Kohima | March 5

The State Election Commission, Nagaland, has notified a Special Summary Revision of the electoral roll for all the municipal and town councils in Nagaland.

Informing this through a press conference here, today, State Election Commissioner (SEC), T John Longkumer informed that the revision will be taken up with reference to January 1, 2024 as the ‘qualifying date,’ as per schedule.

In order to conduct general elections to constitute Municipal and Town Councils in the State, it is considered necessary to revise and update the Electoral Roll for all the 39 Municipal/Town Councils with a view to accommodate in the Roll subsequent changes since the last revision, the notification stated.

The Government of Nagaland dated February 27, 2024 has conveyed the administrative approval for the conduct of special summary revision.

For the revision, on the strength of the provision contained under Section 143 (1) of the Nagaland Municipal Act 2023, the e-roll as published on November 24, 2022, under the now repealed Nagaland Municipal Act 2001 shall be taken as the basis for draft publication purpose, the notification said.

As indicated in the schedule, it shall be published under rule 6 (1) of the Nagaland Municipal Election Rules 2023, the notification stated while mandating the respective Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) for giving wide publicity in this regard, as provided for under rule 6 (2) .

For the revision exercise, the provisions of rules 4 to 10 of the aforesaid Rules shall apply, it added.

It also informed that no enumerator(s), supervisor(s), sector magistrate(s), etc need to be appointed during the ensuing special revision.

The individual claimant/objector shall directly apply to the ERO in his/her office for inclusion/deletion etc. Necessary guidelines/instructions for the revision have been issued for the EROs separately, the notification stated.

Entire election process to complete by April 30
Meanwhile, Longkumer informed that ULB elections will take place in three municipalities- i.e. Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung and 36 constituent town councils in Nagaland.

The ULB elections matter is under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court of India. The court’s direction in its latest order dated December 11, 2023 is that the entire election process should be completed by April 30, 2024, he informed.

The old Nagaland Municipal Act of 2001 was repealed. Thereafter, last year, the new Nagaland Municipal Act was enacted by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly.

The last revision of the electoral roll was taken in 2022 and the final publication was done in November 24.

On that note, he said, the total electors under the ULB elections would be 3,60,150 voters as of now, spread over 418 wards and 693 polling stations.

By tradition, he said, before the elections, there is always a revision, for which, we are conducting in the month of March and final publication in April, he said.

Given the Supreme Court’s direction for the timeline for this elections to be completed, we are working hard and we will do our best to complete it as per the schedule, Longkumer informed.
On being asked when the election to ULBs is likely to be announced, he declined to comment, but noted: “We have to finish this Special Summary Revision and the final publication of electoral roll and then only I have to look at the schedule.”

Stating that the Lok Sabha election is going to be held this year, the SEC said: “I think the date will be notified one of these days.”

On this factor, he wondered if elections to the Lok Sabha and ULBs can be held simultaneously.

“This is a point that I need to seriously study and take the logical decision in this regard,” he said.

Stages for Special Summary Revision of Electoral Roll
•    Draft publication of electoral roll: March 8, 2024
•    Period for lodging claims and objections: March 11-20, 2024
•    Period for disposal of claims and objections: March 21-27, 2024
•    Period for filling appeal to the respective appellate authorities: March 28 – April 3, 2024
•    Disposal of claims & objections by the appellate authority: April 4-6, 2024
•    Preparation of list of amendments after the decision of the appellate authority: April 8-10, 2024
•    Final publication of electoral roll: April 12, 2024.