Shillong: The biennial election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Meghalaya will be held on June 18, with the state election machinery fully prepared to ensure the smooth conduct of the electoral process.
Addressing reporters on Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Dr. BDR Tiwari said the election is being conducted as the tenure of the sitting Rajya Sabha member is set to expire on June 21.
According to Tiwari, the Election Commission of India has scheduled the issuance of the election notification on June 1, while the last date for filing nominations is June 8. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on June 9, and candidates may withdraw their nominations until June 11.
Polling will take place on June 18 from 9 am to 4 pm, while the counting of votes will commence at 5 pm on the same day. The entire election process is expected to be completed before June 20.
Earlier in the day, election officials, along with representatives of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, inspected the polling venue and expressed satisfaction with the arrangements made in compliance with Election Commission guidelines.
The CEO also informed that political parties have been briefed on the election procedure, which will be conducted under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the open ballot system as provided under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Explaining the voting procedure, Tiwari said MLAs belonging to political parties are required to show their marked ballot papers only to the authorised agents of their respective parties, while independent legislators are not permitted to display their ballot papers to any agent.
He added that the interaction with political parties was constructive, and all queries regarding the Rajya Sabha election process had been satisfactorily addressed.
On the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Tiwari said the election machinery is fully prepared, with Booth Level Officers currently undergoing training for door-to-door voter verification and distribution of enumeration forms.
