A facilitation centre has been opened at the office of Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner here to help the candidates contesting the Lok Sabha election while submitting documents with the nomination papers as filing of nominations for the April 26 elections will begin on Thursday.
Talking to reporters in Mangaluru on Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer of Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency M.P. Mullai Muhilan said nomination papers can be filed between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. from March 28 to April 4. Nomination will not be accepted on March 29 and April 4 because of public holiday.
Mr. Muhilan said only three vehicles of the candidates will be permitted to enter within 100 meter radius of the office of the Returning Officer. Only five members, including the candidate, will be allowed entry to the place of filing nomination. Among the documents that need to be filed at the time of nomination includes a ‘no due’ certificate.
The candidate has to be proposed by 10 persons and he/she should place security deposit of ₹25,000. If the candidate is Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe, the security deposit is ₹12,500. The candidate should submit at the time of nomination the details of the bank account through which expenses for election is being made.
Posters and other campaign materials that are used should have details namely the name and address of the printer and number of copies printed. Mr. Muhilan said procession undertaken by the candidate to the nomination filing centre will be included in the candidate’s expense.
Mr. Muhilan said facilities have been created for physically disabled and senior citizens to exercise their franchise at the polling booth. Those who have difficulty in reaching the polling booth can opt for home voting facility.
While stating that there will not be any auto deletion of names in the electoral roll and it will be done only on the application of the voter, Mr. Muhilan asked voters to access voters services portal or the voter helpline app to search their names in the electoral roll.
On calls for boycotting polls over non-fulfilment of demands, Mr. Muhilan said the district administration will handle it on basis of issues.
Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer K. Anandh, who heads District Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation programme, said as many as 57 polling stations have been identified where the polling has been less than the state average of 68.81% in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Awareness activities are being taken up to increase polling. As many as 14 icons of the district will be involved in the SVEEP activity, Dr. Anandh said.
