General Election to the Legislative Assemblies

ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi – 110 001
NO. ECI/PN/23/2008 Dated:14th October, 2008
PRESS NOTE
Subject: Schedule for General Election to the Legislative Assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi
The terms of the Legislative Assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, and NCT of Delhi are normally due to expire on 21.12.2008, 14.12.2008, 14.12.2008, 14.01.2009 and 17.12.2008 respectively. By virtue of its powers, duties and functions under Article 324 read with Article 172(1) of the Constitution of India and Section 15 of Representation of the People Act, 1951 the Commission is under the constitutional mandate to hold general elections to constitute the new Legislative Assemblies in the States of Chhattisgarh,
Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi within a period of six months before the expiry of the present term.

ASSEMBLY CONSTITUENCIES
2. The total number of seats in the Assembly Constituencies of the above States and seats
reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, as determined by the Delimitation
Commission under the Delimitation Act, 2002 are as under: -
State Total No. ACs ACs reserved for SC ACs reserved for ST
Chhattisgarh 90 10 29
Madhya Pradesh 230 35 47
Mizoram 40 - 39
Rajasthan 200 34 25
NCT Delhi 70 12 -
ELECTORAL ROLLS
3. General Elections will be conducted in the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Mizoram, Rajasthan, and NCT of Delhi on the basis of the electoral rolls revised with reference
to 01.01.08 as the qualifying date and prepared in accordance with constituencies newly
delimited by the Delimitation Commission. The electoral rolls in four States has been already
completed and finally published. In NCT of Delhi, the electoral rolls of 24 Assembly
Constituencies have been finally published on 6th October 2008 and the rolls of remaining 46
Constituencies will be published on 15-10-2008.
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As per final rolls, there are 1,52,07,734 electors in the State of Chhattisgarh, 3,57,05,136 in the
State of Madhya Pradesh, 6,11,124 in the State of Mizoram, and 3,62,19,481 in the State of
Rajasthan. In NCT, Delhi final figures would be known after the final publications.
Approximately 1, 09, 00,000 electors are registered according to the draft rolls. The electoral
rolls of all the Assembly Constituencies of these States have been computerized and are
available on the website of the Chief Electoral Officers of the States concerned.
PHOTO ELECTORAL ROLLS
4. All these States are having photo electoral rolls which will be used in these states during
the forthcoming general elections for easy identification of voters.
ELECTORS PHOTO IDENTITY CARDS (EPIC)
5. Identification of the voters at the polling booth at the time of poll shall be mandatory.
Electors who have been provided with EPIC shall be identified through EPIC only. Presently,
the EPIC coverage in these States is as under:-
Chhattisgarh 64.51%
Madhya Pradesh 85.00%
Mizoram 91.00%
Rajasthan 84.63%
NCT Delhi 80.00%
All the residual electors are advised to obtain their Elector’ Photo Identity Cards from
the Electoral Registration Officers of their Assembly Constituencies urgently.
ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES (EVMs)
6. The poll in these States will be conducted at all polling stations using EVMs. The
Commission has already made arrangements to ensure availability of adequate number of EVMs
for the smooth conduct of elections. A two-stage randomization of EVMs will be made. In the
first stage, all the EVMs stored in the district storage centre will be randomized by the District
Election Officer (DEO) in the presence of the representatives of the recognized political parties
for allocation assembly constituency-wise. After the EVMs in a constituency are prepared for
the poll by the Returning Officer and the ballot units are fitted with ballot papers, then the
EVMs will again be randomized to decide the actual polling stations in which they will be
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ultimately used. The second stage randomization will be done in the presence of Observers,
candidates or their election agents.
LAW AND ORDER AND DEPLOYMENT OF FORCES
7. Based on the assessment of the ground situation, Central Police Forces (CPF) and State
Armed Police (SAP) drawn from other States will be deployed during the ensuing general
elections. The CPF and SAP will be used generally for safeguarding the polling stations and for
providing security to the electors and polling personnel at the polling stations on the poll day.
Besides, these forces will be used for securing the strong rooms where the EVMs are stored and
for securing the counting centers. Wherever needed, the CPF will be deployed in advance for
area domination and other election related duties. The identification of polling stations requiring
coverage by CPF in various assembly constituencies will be made in consultation with the ECI
Observers.
8. The Commission has been issuing instructions from time to time with regard to the
advance preventive measures to be taken by the District Magistrates and Police authorities to
maintain the Law & Order and to create atmosphere conducive for the conduct of free and fair
elections. The Commission will be constantly monitoring the ground situation closely and will
take appropriate measures to ensure peaceful, free and fair polls in these States.
OBSERVERS
9. The Commission will be deploying 650 Observers to ensure smooth conduct of forthcoming
General Elections in these states. The Observers will be asked to keep a close watch on every
stage of the electoral process to ensure free and fair elections.
In addition to the General and Expenditure Observers, the Commission will also deploy Micro-
Observers selectively. They will be appointed from amongst the Central Government/Central
PSU officials available locally. They will be stationed at specific polling station locations
housing one or more polling stations and keep close watch on poll proceedings on the poll day.
These micro-observers would directly work under control and supervision of the general
observer.
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CONDUCT OF OFFICIALS
10. The Commission expects all officials engaged in the conduct of elections to discharge
their duties in an impartial manner without any fear or favour. They all shall be deemed to be on
deputation to the Commission and shall be subject to its control, supervision and discipline.
Several instructions have been issued from time to time to ensure impartiality of officials who
are engaged in conduct of elections. The conduct of all government officials who have been
entrusted with election related responsibilities and duties would remain under constant scrutiny
of the Commission and strict action shall be taken against those officials who are found wanting
on any account.
11. The Commission has already given instructions that no election related official or Police
officer of the rank of Sub Inspector and above shall be allowed to continue in his home district.
Besides, instructions have also been issued that all the election related officials including the
police officials who have completed three years in a district during last four years should be
transferred out of that district. The Governments of the States have also been asked to transfer
all those officers against whom the Commission has recommended disciplinary action or who
have been charged for any lapse during previous elections or for any election related work, from
positions entailing any election work.
12. The Governments of these States have been instructed to ensure that those who stand
transferred shall move out physically of their last place of posting and not remain there on any
pretext including leave.
13. The Commission has also instructed the State Governments not to associate any officer with
the electoral process against whom charges have been framed in a court of law in any case.
PROTECTION TO SC/ST ELECTORS
14. As per Section 3 (1) (vii) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989, whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe,
forces or intimidates a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe not to vote or to vote
to a particular candidate or to vote in a manner other than that provided by law shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may
extend to five years and with fine. The Commission has asked the State Government to bring
these provisions to the notice of all concerned for prompt action.
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POLLING STATIONS
15. There are 20,952 polling stations in Chhattisgarh, 46,812 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,026 in
Mizoram, 42,212 in Rajasthan, and 10,849 in NCT of Delhi. For the facility of physically
challenged persons, instructions have been issued to ensure that all polling stations as far as
practicable, are located at ground floor and ramps are provided. Facilitation shall also be
provided for locating elector’s name against a polling station or a group of polling stations
through help lines and facilitation centres.
POLLING PARTIES AND RANDOMIZATION
16. Polling parties shall be formed randomly, through special application software. Threestage
randomization will be adopted. First, from a wider district database of eligible officials, a
shortlist of about 120% of the required numbers will be randomly picked. This group will be
trained for polling duties. In the second stage, from this trained manpower, actual polling parties
as are required shall be formed by random selection software in the presence of ECI Observers.
In the third randomization, the polling stations will be allocated randomly, just before the
polling party’s departure.
DISTRICT ELECTION PLAN
17. The District Election Officers have been asked to prepare a comprehensive district
election plan including communication plan for conduct of elections. The communication plan
should include all resources such as landline telephones, mobile telephones, wireless sets,
satellite phones etc., to facilitate effective monitoring and control on the day of poll. The state
chief electoral officers have also been asked to open Help Lines and Control Rooms in each
Assembly Constituency for the convenience of electors.
VIDEOGRAPHY
18. All critical events shall be videographed. The Commission has issued detailed guidelines
for video coverage of all critical events during the election process and polling at all vulnerable
polling booths on the poll day. The digital cameras will also be deployed inside the booths
wherever needed.
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MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT
19. The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect immediately from now onwards. All
the provisions of the Model Code will apply to the whole of the above States and will be
applicable to all candidates, political parties, the State Governments concerned and the Union
Government from today itself. Attention of the political parties and candidates is particularly
invited to the following provisions of the Code:-
“There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.
Mosques, Churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not be used as
forum for election propaganda.”
SCHEDULE
20. The Commission has prepared the schedule for holding General Elections to the
Legislative Assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and NCT of
Delhi after taking into consideration all relevant aspects, like the climatic conditions, academic
schedules, festivals, prevailing law and order situation in the States, availability of Central
Police Forces, time needed for movement and proper deployment of forces, and assessment of
other ground realities The schedule is also in keeping with the Commission’s consistent policy
to club different state elections together even when their term ends on different dates separated
by a few months..
21. The Commission after considering all relevant aspects has decided to recommend to the
Governors of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi to issue
notifications for the General Elections to the Legislative Assemblies of the respective States
under the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 as per schedules
given in the Schedules Annexed.
(S.K.RUDOLA)
SECRETARY