Candidates can file nominations from September 15-22. Counting will take place on October 12.
Tamil Nadu State Election Commissioner V Palanikumar on Monday notified the dates for the rural local body polls in the nine newly constituted districts in the state. Addressing reporters, he said the polls will be held in two phases on October 6 and October 9 and the counting will take place on October 12.
Elections are being held to 27,003 seats in Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Kallakurichi, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupathur, Tirunelveli and Tenkasi districts.
Earlier this month, the Election Commissioner had chaired a meeting with representatives of political parties and said their opinions would be taken into consideration before the poll schedule was announced.
Candidates can file nominations from September 15-22. The forms will be scrutinised by September 23 and the last date for withdrawing nominations is September 25. Polling will take place from 7 am to 6 pm. Only Covid-positive individuals will be allowed to vote in the last one hour.
The districts have a total electorate of 76,59,720 voters, including 37,77,524 male voters, 38,81,361 female voters and 835 belonging to the third gender. Voting will take place in 7,291 polling booths in the first phase and in 6,652 polling booths in the second. As many as 1,10,000 officials will be deployed for the smooth conduct of the polls.
The State Election Commissioner said preparations have begun for the polls and security arrangements will soon be in place. Every booth will have a micro-observer as well as videography and web streaming facilities.
The polls will be conducted under strict Covid-19 protocol. Each booth will distribute thermometers, hand sanitisers, face-shields, face masks, rubber gloves and PPE kits to election officials.
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