The Election Commission of India today announced that elections to the five states, namely Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Mizoram, Goa and Uttarakhand, would take place in seven phases starting February 10 through March 7.
The announcement of the results would be on March 10.
The Commission said that a total of 18.34 crore voters would be eligible to vote in the upcoming polls. 24.9 lakh first time voters of which 11.4 lakh female voters have registered to vote for the first time.
A reference was also made to spiking cases in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic driven by the omicron variant. With respect to the health protocols in place, the Election Commission of India put in place certain safeguards and procedures. All poll officials will be treated as a frontline worker and will be vaccinated with a booster dose. All previous COVID-19 protocol such as sanitisation, masks and social distancing would apply. Polling time would be extended by one hour, which will be announced when notification is issued.
Further, physical rallies and roadshows have also been banned in their entirety till January 15 and rallies cannot be held from 8pm to 8am. Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said that the pandemic situation is evolving, and this date is not a hard expiry date for this provision.
The schedule
Following is the schedule released by the Election Commission.
Phase 1
It will only see polling in Uttar Pradesh.
The notification will be issued on January 14, the last date of nomination is January 21 and the date of polling is February 10
Phase 2
It will see polling in Uttar Pradesh as well as Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa in their entirety for the latter three states.
The notification will be issued on January 21, the last date of nomination is January 28 and the date of polling is February 14
Phase 3
This phase will see polling only in Uttar Pradesh.
The notification will be issued on January 25, the last date of nomination is February 1 and the date of polling is February 20
Phase 4
This phase will see polling only in Uttar Pradesh
The notification will be issued on January 27, the last date of nomination is February 3 and the date of polling is February 23
Phase 5
This phase will see polling in Uttar Pradesh and the first phase of polling in Manipur
The notification will be issued on February 1, the last date of nomination is February 8 and the date of polling is February 27
Phase 6
This phase will see polling in Uttar Pradesh and the second phase of polling in Manipur
The notification will be issued on February 4, the last date of nomination is February 11 and the date of polling is March 3
Phase 7
This is the last phase of the polls, and will see polling only in Uttar Pradesh
The notification will be issued on February 10, the last date of nomination is February 17 and the date of polling is March 10
Counting will take place for all states on March 10.
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