Duties of the 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Polling Officers for Municipal and Municipal Corporation Elections

Duties of the 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Polling Officers for Municipal and Municipal Corporation Elections

Municipal Elections, Corporation Elections, Municipal Corporation Elections, Elections to municipalities, Elections to Corporations, Electoral List, Election ballot Papers, Elections with ballot boxes, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Polling Officers duties

First Polling Officer: Incharge of Maintenance of Marked copies of Electoral rolls and compulsory identification of voters:

1. On entering the polling station, the elector will proceed directly to the First Polling Officer who will be incharge of the marked copy of the electoral roll and responsible for identification of the electors. Usually each voter comes with a voter slip, which he received from the official machinery or from political parties / contesting candidate.
2. These voter slips will enable the voters to know the polling station where he/she has to cast vote and also facilitate the polling personnel to quickly identify the Sl.No. of the voter in the marked copy of the electoral roll. It helps to reduce the scope for impersonation, besides foreclosing opportunity for unscrupulous elements to influence them. The elector, however should not be compelled to bring voter slip, nor should he be turned away solely because he has not brought such a slip. The Polling Officer should not treat the voter slip brought by an elector as a conclusive proof of his identity.
3. In case no voter slip is brought by the elector, the first polling officer shall himself locate the name of the elector in the electoral roll and after checking it with the particulars in the relevant entry in the roll, will call out loudly the page number, the part number, the serial number to the hearing of the polling agents and the second polling
4. officer. the voter slip brought by the elector should be torn into pieces and put in the Waste Paper Basket supplied.
5. The State Election Commission has issued Order in reference No.663/TSEC-ULBs/2017, dated. 6.12.2018 (Annexure-7) for compulsory identification of electors in the elections to local bodies. It is necessary for the electors to produce any one of the documents from the list mentioned at Annexure-7 at the polling station to establish their identity. The voter’s slip shall not be treated as identity document.
6. The polling officer in charge of the identification must satisfy himself about the identity of the voter after examining any of the above documents produced by the voter.
7. If there is no challenge with regard to the identity of the voter, the polling officer will struck diagonally with red ink pen the entry relating to the elector in the marked copy of the electoral roll available with him in every case and where the elector is a female, the serial number of the female voter has to be rounded off in addition as that will be helpful to the polling officers to count the number of women voters at the end of poll.
8. After identification and locating the name of the elector and checking it with the particulars in the relevant entry in the roll, the first polling officer will call out loudly the section number, the page number, the serial number to the hearing of the polling agents and the second and third polling officers. If there is no objection from polling agents, the voter will then move to the second polling officer.

Second Polling Officer: Incharge of application of Indelible Ink: The Second Polling Officer will be in-charge of indelible ink.

1. He will then inspect the voter‘s left forefinger to see that it does not bear any sign or trace of indelible ink, then ―Indelible ink will be applied with the help of brush as a line from top end of the nail to the bottom of the first joint of the left forefinger following the instructions mentioned in chapter-15.
2. At the time of fresh poll/countermanded poll/re-poll, the marking with indelible ink made at the original poll should be ignored and fresh marking with indelible ink should be put on the voter‘s left middle finger. 

Third Polling Officer: Ballot Papers

1. As the First Polling Officer reads aloud the part number and serial number of the elector, the third Polling Officer will record on the counterfoil of Ballot Paper the electoral roll part number and the serial number of the elector, as entered in the marked copy of the electoral roll.
2. The Polling Officer will then obtain the signature/thumb impression of the voter on the counterfoils of ballot paper. For the purpose of obtaining the thumb impression the stamp pad of purple colour supplied to your polling station should be used and for obtaining signature the ball-point pen should be used. For the use of voters whose thumb impression has been taken on the counterfoil of the ballot paper, a wet piece of cloth may be kept on the table of the Polling Officer for removing the ink. The ballot paper signed on reverse side by the Presiding Officer, will then be detached from the counterfoil with the help of a flat metal rule having a sharp edge on the lengthwise side. It will thereafter be delivered to the voter and he will be directed to the Fourth Polling Officer. No ballot paper should be delivered to an elector unless he has put his signature or thumb impression on the counterfoil of the ballot paper. It is not necessary to have the thumb impression of the elector on the counterfoil attested by the Presiding Officer or a Polling Officer or by any other officer.

Fourth Polling Officer: Incharge of Arrow Cross Mark Rubber Stamp & folding and unfolding of Ballot Paper

1. The Fourth Polling Officer will be in-charge of the arrow cross mark rubber stamps for marking the ballot paper. He will take the ballot from the elector and fold it twice, first vertically and then horizontally, in such a way that the distinguishing mark is clearly visible at the top right hand corner on the back of the ballot paper. He will then unfold the ballot paper and hand it over to the
2. elector. He will also give to the voter an inked rubber stamp and if specifically requested by the voter, instruct him by making a mark with it on a piece of plain paper. The voter will then be asked to proceed to the voting compartment. After recording his vote, the elector will refold, the ballot paper along the lines on which it was folded before it was issued to him, come out of the voting compartment and insert the ballot paper into the ballot box kept in front of the Polling Officer/Presiding Officer.
3. Before the voter leaves the polling station, the fourth Polling Officer will examine the left forefinger of the elector and satisfy that the indelible ink mark is clearly impressed on the skin. If the voter has removed the mark or the mark is not clear, the voter should be marked again in such a way that the marking is clear and is not immediately removed.

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