Covid-19: Goa to adopt Bihar assembly polls protocols for ZP polls

Panaji, Dec 5 : Goa’s State Election Commission will take a leaf from the ECI’s Covid-19 protocols adopted in the recently concluded assembly elections in Bihar, to conduct zilla panchayats polls in the coastal state.
The polls have been scheduled for December 12, a top official said on Saturday. Counting of votes will take place on December 14.
State Election Commissioner Chokha Ram Garg told a press conference in Panaji that Covid-19 positive persons will also be allowed to vote during the last hour of voting.
7,91,814 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the 48 zilla panchayat constituencies in the state.
“We will follow all SOPs laid down by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Election Commission of India has already conducted elections in Bihar. We will follow those instructions,” Garg said.
“As far as the position of Covid is concerned, Goa is quite comfortable. The state has around 1,300 Covid-19 positive persons and we have around 1200 polling stations. So it comes down to one (Covid-19 positive) person per polling station. It will not be a problem taking care of one person or two persons who have Covid-19 at the polling station,” Garg said.