Elections to the Karnataka Assembly will be conducted on May 12 and the results will be declared on May 15, the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared on Tuesday.
The Gazette notification for the election will be issued on April 17. The last date for filing of nominations is April 24 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is April 27. The entire election process will be completed on May 18.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) O.P. Rawat said EVM outputs would be matched with VVPAT slips at one randomly selected polling station in each of the 224 Assembly constituencies. As per the latest electoral rolls, there are close to 4.97 crore eligible voters.
Compared to the 2013 polls, there is a 9% increase in the number of polling stations to 56,696 this time round. The previous elections were also held in a single phase.
Distribution of voter guide to every household
“In this election, a voter guide in Kannada and English will be handed over to every household ahead of the elections, giving information about the date and time of polls, contact details of booth level officials, important websites, helpline numbers….,” said Mr. Rawat.
The Commission had issued orders for increasing the height of standardised voting compartments to 30 inches for ensuring secrecy of voting. In each of the Assembly constituency, an all-women managed polling station will be set up. “The entire polling staff, including the police and security personnel, shall be women,” said the CEC.
Central armed police forces would be deployed in advance, particularly in the localities housing weaker sections and minorities and in insurgency-affected areas.
A close watch would be kept on the election expenses of candidates and the political parties through multi-agency monitoring cells. As per the revised ceilings, the maximum limit of election expenses for the Assembly constituencies is ₹28 lakh a candidate in the State.
“All the candidates are required to furnish their accounts of expenditure within 30 days of declaration of results,” said Mr. Rawat.
