Itanagar, Nov 28: The Arunachal Pradesh State Election Commission (SEC) has introduced an on-the-spot voting system for personnel assigned to civic poll duty in the upcoming municipal and panchayat elections, replacing the earlier postal ballot method.

According to an order issued by SEC Secretary Taru Talo on Thursday, polling personnel in Itanagar and Pasighat must apply to their respective municipal returning officers (MROs) at least three days before polling day, attaching a copy of their election duty appointment order. The MRO will verify documents, mark the voter’s name in the electoral roll, and issue the ballot paper for immediate voting.

The MRO will fix the date, time, and venue for voting and inform candidates, their agents, or authorized representatives, who may be present during the process. Voters may cast their vote using the envelope method or the Election Duty Certificate (EDC) ballot box system. Counterfoils of ballot papers will be securely stored for transparency.

The provision, introduced under Article 243ZA of the Constitution, aims to protect the voting rights of officers on election duty and ensure wider democratic participation.

The 12th general panchayat elections and the third municipal elections for Itanagar and Pasighat will be held simultaneously on December 15. Arunachal Pradesh has 27 zilla parishads with 245 constituencies and 2,103 gram panchayats covering 8,181 constituencies.

The Itanagar Municipal Corporation has 20 wards, while the Pasighat Municipal Council has eight. A total of 8,31,648 voters are eligible — 7,59,210 for panchayat polls and 72,438 for municipal elections. Upper Subansiri has the highest number of panchayat voters at 61,142, while Dibang Valley has the lowest at 4,249. Itanagar’s ward 19 has the largest municipal voter base at 5,106, and Pasighat’s ward 6 the smallest at 812.

The SEC will set up 2,171 polling stations for panchayat polls, 67 for Itanagar, and 12 for Pasighat municipal elections. EVMs will be used for municipal polls, while ballot boxes will be used for panchayat polls. Over 40,000 personnel, including 15,000 polling staff, have been deployed. Counting of votes will take place on December 20.