The order has been issued in exercise of the plenary powers conferred by Article 243ZA of the Constitution, which aims to ensure that officers serving on election duty do not miss their right to vote, thereby strengthening democratic participation.

The 12th general election to panchayat bodies and third municipal polls for Itanagar and Pasighat will be held simultaneously on December 15.

There are 27 zilla parishads with 245 constituencies and 2,103 gram panchayats with 8,181 constituencies in the state.

The Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) has 20 wards, while the Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC) has eight wards.

A total of 8,31,648 voters are eligible to vote -- 7,59,210 for the panchayat and 72,438 for municipal elections. Upper Subansiri district has the highest number of panchayat voters at 61,142 while Dibang Valley has the lowest at 4,249.

In the municipalities, Itanagar's ward number 19 has the highest number of voters (5,106), whereas Pasighat's ward number 6 has the lowest (812).

The SEC will set up 2,171 polling stations for panchayat elections, 67 for the IMC and 12 for PMC.

EVMs will be used in the municipal elections, while panchayat polls will be conducted using ballot boxes. Over 40,000 personnel, including 15,000 polling staffers, will be deployed.

The counting of votes is scheduled for December 20.