EC declares schedule for 2019 LS polls, counting of votes on May 23
Elections will be held for 543 seats of Lok Sabha on approximately 10 lakh polling booths across the country.
New Delhi: The Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora on Sunday announced the schedule for the 17th Lok Sabha election that would be held in 7 phases.
Sharing the details of the execution, Arora said that the first phase of Lok Sabha polls would be held on April 1.
The second phase of Lok Sabha polls would be conducted on April 11, third on 23 April, fourth on April 29, fifth phase on May 6, sixth phase on May 12 and seventh and final phase on May 19.
Election Commission (EC) said that counting of votes of Lok Sabha polls would be carried out on May 23.
Arora said that elections would be held for 543 seats of Lok Sabha on approximately 10 lakh polling booths across the country that is 1 lakh more compared to the previous general elections held in 2014.
Read: Arunachal, Andhra, Sikkim, Odisha Assembly polls to be held along with LS election
Addressing a press conference on the high-voltage Lok Sabha polls Arora informed that total electorate would be 900 million.
He added, 84.3 million would be first-time voters and 15 million would be representing the young voters' base who fall under the age group of 18-19.
“VVPATs will be used along with EVMs at all polling stations. Adequate numbers of both have been made available for smooth conduct of election exercise. There will be mandatory VVPAT slip count at randomly selected polling station per assembly segment,” Arora said.
Arora said a pre-certification would be required for all the political advertisements on social media.
A model code of conduct would be laid down by the EC that would come into effect from Sunday across India.
Arora warned that any violation will be dealt in the strictest manner.