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Bypolls in Uttarakhand and West Bengal will take place on November 25
According to an EC release, notification for the by-elections will be issued on October 30. The last date of filing nomination papers is November 6 and scrutiny of nomination papers will be completed on November 7.
The voting for four Assembly by-elections--Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand and Kaliaganj (SC), Karimpur, and Kharagpur Sadar in West Bengal will be held on November 25 and the votes will be counted on November 28, the Election Commission (EC) said on Friday. The election in Pithoragarh was necessitated after the death of Prakash Pant, the state cabinet minister, in June.
According to an EC release, notification for the by-elections will be issued on October 30. The last date of filing nomination papers is November 6 and scrutiny of nomination papers will be completed on November 7.
The last date of withdrawal of candidature has been set to November 11. The voting will be conducted using EVM and VVPAT machines, the EC said.
"The commission has decided to keep the voting time from 8 am to 5 pm on November 28," the EC said. With the announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force in the constituency.
After taking into consideration inputs from the Chief Electoral Officers of Uttarakhand and West Bengal and various factors like local festivals, electoral rolls, weather conditions etc. the Commission has decided to hold bye-elections to fill these vacancies.
The Commission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-election 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.
In consonance with the past practice, the Commission has decided that the voter's identification shall be mandatory in the aforementioned 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 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 elections.