Section 5 in Tamil Nadu Farmers' Management of Irrigation Systems Election Rules, 2003
5. Presiding Officers and Polling Officers.
(1)The Collector or any other officer authorised by him shall appoint a Presiding Officer and Polling Officers for each polling station as he thinks necessary, but he shall not appoint any person who has been employed by, or on behalf of, or has been otherwise working for, a candidate in or about the election:Provided that only officers of the Government, Local Authorities, Cooperative Institutions or Undertakings owned by the State/Central Government or Aided Schools may be appointed for this purpose:Provided further that, if a Polling Officer is absent, the Presiding Officer may appoint any person who is present at the polling station other than a person who has been employed by, or acting on behalf of, the candidate or has been otherwise working for a candidate in or about the election, to be the Polling Officer and inform the Returning Officer accordingly.(2)A Polling Officer shall, if so directed by the Presiding Officer, perform all or any of the functions of a Presiding Officer under these Rules.(3)If a Presiding Officer, owing to illness or other unavoidable cause, is obliged to be absent himself from the polling station, his functions shall be performed by such Polling Officer as previously authorised by the Returning Officer to perform such functions during any such absence.(4)It shall be the general duty of the Presiding Officer at the polling station to keep and maintain public order thereat and to see that the poll is conducted in a fair manner.(5)For conducting election to the offices of the Presidents and members of Distributory Committees and Chairman and members of Project Committees, the Collector or any officer authorised by him may appoint one or more Presiding Officer as may be necessary to assist the Returning Officer in conducting the election.
