Representative image

The bypolls at Pakke-Kasang (ST) and Likabali (ST) constituencies in Arunchal Pradesh will be held on December 21.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced the schedule for bye-election for the two constituencies in Arunachal Pradesh besides for that of State Legislative Assemblies of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force with immediate effect in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Assembly Constituency going for bye-election is included, subject to other conditions, the EC said in its announcement.

The schedule has been fixed after taking into consideration various factors such as local festivals, electoral rolls, weather conditions etc., the EC said.

These vacant seats will also go to the polls on December 21, with counting on Dec 24.

The Gazette notification will be issued on Nov 27. Last date for filing of nominations will be Dec 4.

According to the EC announcement, the Electoral Rolls of the Assembly Constituencies 12-Pakke Kasang (ST) and 28-Likabali (ST) of Arunachal Pradesh, revised with reference to January 1, 2017 as the qualifying date, will be used for bye-election.

The Commission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-elections in all the polling stations.

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, EC said in its release on Friday.

In consonance with the past practice, the Commission has decided that the voter’s identification shall be mandatory in the aforementioned bye- elections 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 franchise, if his/her name figures in the Electoral Rolls, separate instructions will be issued to allow additional documents for identification of voters at the time of poll in the said bye-elections, said EC.