Andhra Pradesh reschedules MPTC, ZPTC polling to November 5

Andhra Pradesh has moved MPTC and ZPTC polling from November 3 to November 5 to avoid a clash with urban local body vote counting. Repolling is scheduled for November 6 and counting of rural local body votes for November 7

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission has rescheduled the date of polling for MPTC and ZPTC elections from November 3 to November 5.

The State Election Commission on Wednesday issued a notification rescheduling the polling in view of the change in the schedule for urban local body elections following the Supreme Court order.

---

As per the revised schedule, polling for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) will be held on November 5. Repoll, if any, will be conducted on November 6, while counting of votes will be taken up on November 7.

State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha on Wednesday spoke to the Collectors & District Election Authorities of a few cyclone-affected districts. After the assessment of the situation and based on the assurances given by them, the State Election Commission decided that there is no need to reschedule the polling for urban local bodies.

Accordingly, polling in urban local bodies will be held as scheduled on November 1.

The State Election Commission on October 22 had revised the schedule for urban local bodies. The date of polling was rescheduled from October 28 to November 1 as the publication of the lists of contesting candidates was postponed to October 25, in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court.

As per the revised schedule, the polling for ULBs is to be held on November 1, repoll, if any, on November 2, and the counting of votes and declaration of results on November 3.

The SEC said in a release that the revised date for counting of votes in ULBs, i.e., November 3, coincides with the date of poll for the MPTCs and ZPTCs. As the counting of votes for the ULBs and the polling for MPTCs and ZPTCs are scheduled to take place simultaneously on November 3, the available police and polling personnel are not sufficient to effectively manage both the activities on the same day, the SEC said.

Due to the unforeseen change in ULB schedule, the SEC issued a notification on Wednesday, rescheduling the date of poll for MPTCs and ZPTCs from November 3 to November 5, re-poll, if any, from November 4 to November 6 and counting of votes and declaration of results from November 5 to November 7.

The State Election Commission issued notification on October 19 for elections to MPTCs and ZPTCs. As per the election schedule, the lists of contesting candidates have been published by the Returning Officers concerned after 3 p.m. on October 27. Simultaneously, they have also declared the results of uncontested elections.