Punjab Assembly elections on February 4
Goa poll on Feb 4 | Uttarakhand Feb 15 | Manipur March 4 and 8 | UP poll in seven phases starting Feb 11
New Delhi, January 4
The Election Commission on Wednesday announced elections to state assemblies in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Manipur.
Elections in Punjab for the 117 Assembly seats will be conducted in a single phase on February 4.
UP will go to polls in seven phases starting February 15. Uttarakhand will go to polls on February 15, Goa on February 4 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and March 8.
Counting will be held for all these states on March 11.
Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced the polls and said that the model code of conduct came into force with immediate effect.
Central police forces will be deployed in these states.
Final electoral rolls of Punjab will be published on January 5, and in UP on January 12.
The polls will see a total of 16 crore electorate and 1.85 lakh polling stations in these states.
Identification of voters at poll booths will be mandatory.
Zaidi said a voter guide would be distributed to each family about identification documents which could be used at polling booths.
The limit of expenses per candidate is Rs 28 lakh in Punjab, UP and Uttarakhand. It is Rs 20 lakh in Manipur and Goa.
There will be separate polling stations for women in areas where women due to social practice shied away from interacting with men.
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used. In certain identified constituencies, voters will be provided with paper trail. The ballot papers will have a picture of the candidate.
Voters in military and paramilitary forces will be allowed voting through electronic transfer.
Candidates will be required to get a no-demand certificate that all payments of government facilities had been made by them.
All chief election officers in states are on the social media. The Press Council of India will participate in identifying paid news. Channels owned by candidates or parties will be monitored and expenses will be added to the party or the candidate.
