Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced election scheduled for the Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections in the Country and Odisha.
As per the announcement, elections in Odisha will be held in four phases. Polling will be held on May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1, informed Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
As many as 28 Assembly segments will go to poll on May 13 while electors in 35 Assembly constituencies will cast votes on May 20. Similalry, voting will be held in 42 Assembly constituencies on May 25. On June 1, polling will conducted in 42 Assembly seats.
Apart from Odisha, the Assembly elections will also be held simultaneously on Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Haryana, and Maharashtra.
The voting for the general elections in the country will be held in seven phases, Kumar added. The voting for parliamentary polls will begin on April 19 in the country and will end on June 1, Kumar informed.
Polling will be held on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 in the country. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
The tenure of Odisha Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 24, June 2024. The ongoing term of the Lok Sabha will end on June 16, and a new House needs to be constituted before that.
1.5 crore polling officers and security forces will be engaged while 55 lakh EVMs have been kept ready for the general elections.
As many as 97 voters will cast their votes at over 10.5 lakh polling stations in the country.
As many as 1.8 crore voters will exercise their franchise for the first time this time. 88.4 lakh voters are persons with disabilities. The country has 82 lakh voters 85+ years old while 48,000 transgender electors. The number of centenarian voters stands at 2.18 crore
CEC Rajiv Kumar said that voters older than 85 years of age will be allowed to vote from home. He also said that minimum basic facilities like drinking water and toilets will be made available at all polling booths.