ECI bans exit polls from April 11 to May 19

Team Herald

PANJIM: With bye-elections to four assembly constituencies in the State inching closer, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has prohibited exit polls between April 11 and May 19, 2019, incidentally, the first and the last phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections. 

The order is applicable across the country as well as all the States undergoing general assembly elections and bye-elections. 

Besides the dates for Lok Sabha elections, the ECI had also declared the schedule for General Elections to the State assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim 2019 and bye-elections in the State Legislative Assemblies of Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. 

“As per the provisions of Section 126A of The Representation of the People Act, 1951 (in short R.P. Act, 1951) there shall be restrictions on conduct of any exit poll and publication and dissemination of result of such exit poll during such period, as may be notified by the Election Commission in this regard.  The ECI notifies the period between 7 am on April 11, 2019 (Thursday) and 6:30 pm on May 19, 2019 (Sunday) as the period during which conducting any exit poll and publishing or publicizing by means of the print or electronic media or dissemination in any other manner whatsoever, the result of any exit poll in connection with the current General Elections to the House of the People, 2019, and the State Legislative Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha & Sikkim 2019, and bye-elections from assembly constituencies announced above, to be held simultaneously with the General Election to Lok Sabha, shall be prohibited,” reads the order. 

The ECI has further informed that displaying any election matter including results of any opinion poll or any other poll survey, in any electronic media, would be prohibited during the last 48 hours of the polling. 

In another notification, the Chief Electoral Officer, Goa has allotted symbols to the Independent candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls and the by-elections in the three constituencies of Mandrem, Shiroda and Mapusa. The poll date for Panjim was declared this week and the nomination process for this by-election will begin on April 22.