The Election Commission of India on Friday released the schedule for the by-election to Ranikor Assembly constituency in Meghalaya.
Polling to the 35 Ranikor (ST) Assembly Constituency will be held on August 23 next while the counting will take place on August 27.
August 29 has been notified as the date to complete the entire election process.
The date for issue of gazette notification has been fixed on July 30.
The last date of filing nomination is August 6 while August 7 has been fixed as the date of scrutiny of nomination papers.
The last date of withdrawal of candidature has been fixed on August 9.
The electoral rolls for the Assembly constituency have already been published.
The commission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the by-election in all the polling stations.
The statement issued by the ECI said that adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly with the help of these machines.
In consonance with the past practice, the Commission has decided that the voter’s identification shall be mandatory in the aforementioned by-election at the time of poll.
Electoral Photo Identity cards (EPIC) shall be the main document of identification of a voter.
However, in order to ensure that no voter is deprived of his/her right of franchise, if voter(s) name figure(s) in the electoral rolls, separate instructions will be issued to allow additional documents for identification of voters at the time of poll in the by-elections.
The Commission further stated that the dates have been finalized keeping into consideration like local festivals, electoral rolls, weather conditions etc.
Meanwhile, with the announcement of poll dates, the model code of conduct shall come into force with immediate effect in the district.
The model code of conduct shall be applicable to all candidates, political parties and the State Government concerned.
The Model code of conduct shall also be applicable to the Union Government for the district of the State concerned.