High-stake assembly polls in five states in november-december

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New Delhi: The Election Commission on Saturday set the ball rolling for the Assembly elections in five states but not on a single date as they are spread over 26  days from November 12 to December 7 and the counting will be on December 11 for the results that are expected to set the tone for the Lok Sabha elections five months later. Chhattisgarh is having a 2-phase polls for the law and order reasons while four other states have a single-phase polling.

Rajasthan and Telangana will be the last states to go to polls on December 7 while Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram have polls on November 28 and 2-phase polls in Chhattisgarh on November 12 in Left-affected 18 constituencies and on November 20 in the remaining 72 constituencies. The EC also announced the dates of by-elections to three Lok Sabha and two legislative assembly constituencies of Karnataka. The elections will be held on November 3 to fill vacancies, Election Commission said. The counting of votes is on November 6.

Paper count of only one polling station

CEC Om Prakash Rawat clarified that counting of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) paper slips will be done on one randomly selection polling station in each Assembly constituency in the November-December Assembly polls. The returning officer will randomly select the polling booth by draw of lot in presence of candidates for verification of the results obtained from the electronic voting machines (EVMs), he said. “This mandatory verification of VVPAT slip count of one polling station in each constituency shall be in addition to the provisions of Rule 56 (1) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961,” says the announcement in this regard.

States will go to polls on…

• 2-phase polls in Chhattisgarh on November 12 and November 20 •
• Rajasthan and Telangana on December 7 • Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram on November 28 •