Election Commission of Jharkhand

About the Election Commission of Jharkhand

The Election Commission of India, responsible for the entire process for conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislature of every state and to the offices of the President and Vice-President of India, functions through the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in the states. The CEO’s office functions under the guidance, supervision and control of the Election Commissioner. The CEO’s office is responsible for preparing, maintaining and periodically updating the Electoral Roll in the entire state.

The Jharkhand State Election Commission has been vested with the task for maintaining the continuity in the functioning of the local self government institutions and maintaining their institutional integrity by ensuing free and fair elections to these bodies. It is a single member Commission headed by the State Election Commissioner.

History

The State Election Commission of Jharkhand was established as per provisions of Article 243K of the Constitution of India in the year of 2001. It presides over the electoral processes related to the conduct of elections to the three-tier Panchayati Raj Institutions and urban local bodies in Jharkhand. The Commission has successfully conducted the elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions in 2010 and urban local bodies in phases in 2008, 2010 and 2013. The next round of Panchayati Raj and Urban Local Bodies elections is due in 2015.

Jharkhand has a unicameral state legislature comprising only one house – the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly or The Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha. There are 81 members in the Assembly who are directly elected from their respective constituencies, and one nominated. The first Assembly elections were held in 2000 in Jharkhand.

Chief Electoral Officer of Jharkhand

P.K. Jajoria, IAS is the Chief Electoral Officer of Jharkhand State Election Commission. The commission consists of many officers who are entrusted to conduct their duties as per provisions of the Constitution.

Upcoming Election Schedule

The Jharkhand Assembly elections for 2014 are scheduled to be held in five phases between November 25 and December 20. The Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) of Jharkhand consists of 82 seats out of which 81 are directly elected and one seat is nominated. The fate of the candidates will be decided by about two crore voters. The major parties in the state include Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Janata Dal (United) - JD (U).

Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)

Cabinet (Election) Department
Near Gayatri Mandir,
Old OPD, HEC Colony, Sector-2,
Dhurwa, Ranchi - 834004
Ph.: 0651-2440077/2444787/2444453
Fax: 0651-2441551/ 2441552
Email: [email protected]
WBMJ20.11.2014
EBVD