Election Commission announces dates for 2019 Lok Sabha poll, 900 million voters to vote for 543 seats in 7 phases 

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India has announced the much-awaited poll dates for the Lok Sabha election, on Sunday. The election will be held in seven phases starting from April 11 and ending on May 19. The votes will be counted on May 23.

In a news conference held in New Delhi, the chief election commissioner, Sunil Arora, said the poll panel has attempted a very comprehensive preparation for the conduct of election. To assess the law and order situation of states, it has held meetings with all state chief secretaries.

Arora also said it discussed with several government departments and organizations, including the Indian Railways, to ensure smooth movement and facilitation during the conduct of polls.

The CEC said many factors were taken into consideration while arriving at the dates of the phases, like students’ board examinations in states, festivals, harvest season of crops, etc.

Arora also said the aim is to hold a free and fair election and the Election Commission believes that “purity of the electoral roll” is the foundation of fair elections. He said the process of updating the electoral rolls will continue till last date of filing of nomination.

The CEC revealed some figures as well. He said the total electorate in this year’s Lok Sabha election will be 900 million. Out of these 900 million voters, 15 million voters in the age group of 18–19.

He said there would be 10 lakh polling stations this year, compared to the 9 lakh polling stations in in 2014 general election. He said basic facilities, like drinking water, electricity, etc, will be provided at all polling stations.

The country’s top election officer also revealed that voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPATs) will be used with electronic voting machines (EVMs) at all polling stations. For this, 17.4 lakh VVPATs will be used. He said the Election Commission has laid down elaborate standard operating procedures for EVMs and VVPATs.

Arora also said the EC will take a view on raising extent of VVPAT-EVM count match as per report of Indian Statistical Institute. It is expected before counting process and will be implemented. Many opposition parties had recently asked 50 per cent of the EVMs to be matched with paper trail.

Model code of conduct

With this announcement, the election model code of conduct kicks in immediately. The chief election commissioner has warned that violation of the model code of conduct will be dealt with in the “strictest manner”. He also said all key events (from now until the end of the election) will be videographed.

The EC has also announced a helpline number to check your name and election-related information. The number is 1950.

Media

Arora also highlighted the role of the media during the election. He said that the election commission urged the media to play an active role during the election. Arora said the poll panel considers the media to be its force multiplier and because of this, the commission has directed its officials to engage positively with the media.

The CEC also said Google and Facebook has assured that they carry out verification of political advertisers to prevent manipulation of the election.

This year’s Lok Sabha election, the biggest general election in the world by a long margin, will be held in seven phases.

The following is the breakdown of the details:

The states that will have election in single phase:

Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Delhi, Puducherry, Chandigarh

The states that will have election in two phases: 

Karnataka, Manipur, Rajasthan, Tripura

The states that will have election in three phases:

Assam, Chhattisgarh

The states that will have election in four phases:

Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha

The state that will have election in five phases:

Jammu & Kashmir

The states that will have election in seven phases:

Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

State/Union territory-wise details:

Number of Lok Sabha seats to go to polls: 543

Counting Day: May 23

Full video of the Election Commission’s announcement of the 2019 Lok Sabha election dates and details:

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