Filing of nomination to start from March 15
Following the announcement of schedule for lok Sabha elections by Election Commission of India (EC) on Wednesday, the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) also declared the schedule for seven Parliamentary constituencies in the national Capital. Polling in Delhi will take place on April 10, while the filing of nomination will start from March 15 with the issuance of the notification. The last date of filing nomination will be March 22. The scrutiny of nominations will be held on March 24 and the last date for withdrawal of nomination is March 26.
Announcing the schedule for the seven Parliamentary constituencies, Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev said that over 1.20 crore voters will exercise their franchise in the coming lok Sabha polls in Delhi. With the dates’ declaration, Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect.
Dev said effective enforcement for implementation of Model Code of Conduct and expenditure monitoring will remain the thrust area of the Election Commission to create a favourable atmosphere for free and fair elections. “On March 9, in all polling stations of Delhi, booth-level officers will be available with the copy of the electoral roll and Form 6 to facilitate all the people to check their names and also to collect Form 6 to apply for voter ID cards,” he added.
“We are going to the poll with 100 per cent photo electoral rolls (PER) and 100 per cent Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) as we did for the first time in legislative elections 2013, as against the 2009 Parliamentary elections when our EPIC percentage was 86.4 and the PER was 79.8 per cent,” said Dev.
Expressing hope to break all previous records of voters’ turnout, Dev stated that electoral office will try to ensure maximum voter turnout and subsequently breaking the record of highest polling percentage (65.86 per cent in the 2013 Delhi Assembly Polls). However, those who are not enrolled and are eligible to vote can submit their forms till March 12, (ten days before the last date of nominations on March 22) to get their names enrolled.
“Checking the name in the electoral roll is very important. People think that if they have the EPIC card, they can vote. But then having an EPIC card doesn’t make one eligible to vote as it is considered as an identity proof. It is mandatory to have your name in the electoral rolls,” said Dev.
“So one should check if their names are there in the electoral roll on the website,” he said. Further one can SMS ‘EPIC <space> voter ID number on 9211728082, to check if their name is enrolled. If the name exists, a message containing a serial number will be sent but if the name is not there, no record found information will be returned,” he said.
TIMETABlE
Polling April 10
Withdrawal of nomination March 15
Scrutiny of nomination March 24
Filing of Nomination ends March 22
Filing of Nomination starts March 15
STRENGTH
Total number of Electorates in Delhi 1,20, 60, 493
Male voters 66, 84, 476
Female voters 53, 76, 017
*includes the 638 others (transgenders)
Polling stations 11, 763
Key features
Over 85,000 civil officials and sufficient police personnel which include 35,000 Delhi officials plus Central Paralimitary Forces will be deployed. Delhi Home Guards and Home Guards from the adjoining states will also be deployed
Following the SC order, political parties will have give details about their promises made in the manifesto and how it will be implemented
Commission will launch an integrity campaign, a new initiative for a better poll day experience for the differently abled voters this time. The Commission will chalk out proper arrangements in this regard after meetings with civil society NGO’s.
The option of NOTA which was introduced in the last year’s Assembly elections will also be used in the Parlimentary elections. The media certification and monitoring committee (MCMC) will keep a check on paid news.