Assam polls: Nominations open till March 23, campaign ends April 7
CEO Anurag Goel outlines nomination process, campaign deadlines and updated voter roll ahead of Assam’s April 9 polls
State’s Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Goel holds press conference at Janata Bhawan.
Guwahati, Mar 16: With the announcement of the poll schedule for the Assam Assembly elections, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Goel, on Monday, outlined the nomination process and key timelines related to the electoral exercise.
Addressing a press conference at Janata Bhawan, Goel said candidates can file their nominations from Monday until March 23 between 11 am and 3 pm.
“All nominations will be received at the offices of the District Commissioners,” he said.
The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on March 24, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is March 26.
“After scrutiny and withdrawal, the ballot papers will be finalised and printing will take place at secured government printing presses for use in the EVM ballot units. The electronically transmitted postal ballots for armed forces personnel will be sent by March 27 at 3 pm,” Goel added.
He also noted that campaigning for the election will continue until April 7.
“Campaigning will end at 5 pm on April 7 since polling will be held on April 9 from 7 am to 5 pm. Campaigning stops 48 hours before the close of polling,” he said.
Regarding the possibility of repolls, Goel stated that any such decision would be taken by the Election Commission of India based on the circumstances.
He further shared the latest figures on the state’s electorate. According to Goel, when the electoral roll was published on February 10, the number of electors stood at 2,49,58,239.
“As of March 15, after continuous updating, the number of electors has increased to 2,50,21,413. There has been a net addition of around 64,000 voters during this period, with about 1,64,000 additions and around one lakh deletions,” he said.
Assam will go to the polls on April 9, the same day as Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Following the announcement of the poll schedule on Sunday, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into immediate effect in the state, restricting new policy announcements and the use of official machinery for campaign purposes (read below).