The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that the Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases on November 12 and 20.
With the announcement of poll dates, the Model Code of Conduct had been enforced with immediate effect.
The notification for poll in Chhattisgarh will be issued on October 16.The first phase of polling will be held on November 12.The second phase of polling will be held on November 20. Polling will be held in 18 Assembly constituencies in insurgency-infested districts.
The nomination for phase-I will be filed on October 23 and scrutiny will be held on October 24.The withdrawal of nomination can be done on October 26.
In phase-II, nomination will be filed on November 2 and scrutiny will done on November 3.The withdrawal of nomination can be done on November 5 and the polling will be held on November 20.
The counting of votes will be held on December 11, 2018.
The final publication of electoral rolls in Chhattisgarh took place on September 27, 2018. Total number of electors as per final electoral rolls is 1,85,45,819. The number of Polling Stations in 2013-14 in Chhattisgarh was 21,418 which went up to 23,632 in 2018 -- an increase of 10.34 per cent.
VVPATs will be used along with EVMs in all Assembly Constituencies of poll going states to enhance the transparency and credibility of the elections. On a pilot basis, VVPAT from one Polling Station in each Assembly Constituency will be randomly selected to count VVPAT paper slips for verification of the result obtained from the control unit.
An innovative “bottom up” approach of booth level planning and management has been implemented in the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana where in Booth Level plans for Polling Stations have been prepared containing all information and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for response for smooth conduct of elections at each Polling Station.
These booth level Plans will be used to prepare AC level, District level and State level Election Management Plans.
Webcasting at identified critical stations for LIVE monitoring of election process, to keep a check on illegal activities such as booth capturing, money distribution and bogus voting and to bring about complete transparency in the voting process shall be undertaken. Further, during the election process, CCTV monitoring and webcasting shall also be done at various border check-posts, check-nakas and other sensitive and critical locations across the constituencies to keep a strict vigil on any nefarious activities designed to vitiate the electoral process.
The Commission will deploy General Observers in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram & Telangana in adequate number to ensure smooth conduct of elections. The Observers will be asked to keep a close watch on every stage of the electoral process to ensure free and fair elections. Their names, addresses within the district/constituency and their telephone numbers will be publicized in local newspapers so that the general public can quickly approach them for any grievance redressal. The Observers will be given a detailed briefing by the Commission before their deployment. The Observers will fix a suitable time every day for meeting the political parties, candidates and other stakeholders to redress their election related grievances.
The Commission would deploy senior IPS officers as Police Observers at district/AC level in these states depending upon the need, sensitivity and assessment of ground realities and prevailing law and order and security scenario.
They will monitor all activities relating to force deployment, law and order situation and co-ordinate between civil and police administration to ensure free and fair election.