Section 62 in The Bihar Panchayat Election Rules, 2006
62. Ballot Paper to be issued.
(1)No ballot paper shall be issued to a voter before the time scheduled for commencement of the poll.(2)No ballot paper shall be issued to a voter after the expiry of the time fixed for closure of the poll:Provided that the voters present at the polling station up to the time fixed for the closure of the poll shall be entitled to receive ballot paper even after the expiry of the scheduled time and may cast his/her vote.(3)(i)The first polling officer shall underline the identity and the name and serial number of the voter in the marked copy of electoral roll and in case of a woman voter, having underlined as above, shall put a tick (S) mark on the left side of the name of the woman voter. The first Polling Officer shall obtain the signature/ thumb impression of the voter on the counterfoil of the ballot paper meant for the election of Mukhiya and Sarpanch and shall note the serial number of the electoral roll relating to the voter concerned on it. Thereafter he/she shall apply indelible ink on the left forefinger of the voter. Thereafter, he/she shall pass on the two ballot papers meant for election of the Mukhiya of Gram Panchayat and the Sarpanch of Gram Katchahry to the second Polling Officer for that voter;(ii)The second polling officer shall underline the identity and his/her name and serial number in the second marked copy of the electoral roll and in the case of a women voter having underlined as above shall put a tick (S) mark on the left side of the name of the woman voter. The second Polling Officer shall obtain the signature/thumb impression of the voter on the counterfoil of the ballot paper meant for election of the Member of Gram Panchayat and the Panch of Gram Katchahry and shall note the serial number of the electoral roll relating to the voter concerned on it. Thereafter he shall acquaint the voter with the procedure of casting his/her vote and hand over the two ballot papers relating to the election of Mukhiya of Gram Panchayat and Sarpanch of Gram Katchahry to the voter and pass on the two ballot papers for the purpose of election of Member of Gram Panchayat and Panch of Gram Katchahry to the third Polling Officer for that voter. The voter, after receiving the two ballot papers relating to Mukhiya and Sarpanch shall enter the first voting compartment and record his/her vote by affixing rubber stamp kept for this purpose against the printed name of the candidate or on his/her symbol. The voter shall fold the ballot papers and coming out of the voting compartment, insert them in the sealed ballot box. This ballot box shall be kept before the second Polling Officer;(iii)The third Polling Officer shall underline the identity and his/her name and serial number in the third marked copy of the electoral roll and in the case of a woman voter having underlined as above shall put a tick (/) mark on the left side of the name of the woman voter. The third polling Officer shall obtain the signature/ thumb impression of the voter on the counterfoil of the ballot paper meant for election of the Member of Panchayat Samiti and Member of Zila Parishad and shall note the serial number of the electoral roll relating to the voter on it. He/She will then acquaint the voter with the procedure of casting his/her vote and hand over the other two ballot papers relating to the Member of Gram Panchayat and Panch of Gram Katchahry to the fourth Polling Officer. Just after receiving both the ballot papers relating to election of the Member of Gram Panchayat and Panch of Gram Katchahry the voter shall enter into the second voting compartment and record his/her vote by affixing the rubber stamp kept for this purpose against the name or the election symbol of any candidate printed on the ballot-paper. The voter will fold the ballot papers and after coming out of the voting compartment, shall put them in the sealed ballot box. This ballot box shall be kept before the third Polling Officer;(iv)The fourth Polling Officer shall acquaint the voter with the procedure of casting his/her vote and hand over the ballot papers relating to the election of Member of Panchayat Samiti and Member of Zila Parishad to the voter. Just after obtaining those ballot papers the voter shall enter into the third voting compartment and cast his/her vote by affixing the rubber stamp kept for this purpose against the name or on the symbol of any candidate printed on the ballot paper meant for Member of Panchayat Samiti and Member of Zila Parishad respectively. The voter shall fold the ballot papers and after coming gut of the voting compartment put them in the sealed ballot box. This ballot box shall be kept before the fourth Polling Officer. After casting his/her vote, the voter shall go out of the polling station immediately. If he/she goes out of the polling station without casting all his votes, he/she shall not be allowed to cast his/her votes again.(v)Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule 3(i)(ii)(iii) and (iv) of Rule 62, if the State Election Commissioner is satisfied that practical and administrative difficulties may arise in conduct of election in accordance with the provisions of sub-rule (3)(i)(ii)(iii) and (iv), due to which the election process is likely to be affected, the State Election Commissioner may give such directions as he deems proper with respect to issue of ballot paper to the voters at the polling station, casting of votes, putting the ballot papers into the ballot boxes, the number of ballot boxes required at the polling station and the place where they are to be placed, distribution of election related work amongst the polling officers posted at each polling station, etc and such directions shall be binding to all and final.(4)If election is held for only a few posts, the number of Polling Officers may be reduced accordingly by the State Election Commission.(5)(i)Each voter about whose identity the Presiding Officer or the Polling Officer, as the case may be, is satisfied, shall allow the Presiding Officer or the Polling Officer to inspect his/her left forefinger and to mark it with indelible ink.(ii)If any voter refuses to allow the inspection of his/her left forefinger or mark it with indelible ink or if the left forefinger is already marked with such ink or if it is evident that he/she has attempted to remove such ink mark, he/she shall not be entitled to be supplied with any ballot paper or to record his vote at the election.(iii)The reference in this rule to the left forefinger of a voter shall, in the case where the elector has his left forefinger missing, be deemed to be a reference to any other finger of his/her left hand and, in the case where all the fingers of his/her left hand are missing, deemed to be a reference to any extremity of his/her left or right arm as he possesses.
