Goa Assembly polls on 30 May
SANDESH PRABHUDESAI, PANAJI | 17 April 2002 21:40 ISTElections for the tenth Legislative Assembly will be now held on 30 May - the Goa Statehood Day.
As per the official notification issued by the Election Commission of India in this regard today evening, the code of conduct comes into force with immediate effect, till the election process gets completed 3 June.
The detailed scheduled released in this regard states that nominations for elections will be invited between 6 to 13 May. After scrutinising the nomination forms on 14 May, contestants will be allowed to withdraw by 16 May.
It means the official candidates will get 13 days for propaganda, which will come to an end on 28 May, allowing the dust to settle before the state goes for polls on 30 May.
The counting of votes however would begin on 1 June, with a gap of one day.
Altogether 9,18,500 voters will exercise their franchise in these elections, including 4,63,273 males and 4,55,227 females.
Regarding compulsory identification of voters, the CEC press release states that the election authorities will also allow additional methods of identifying voters having their names figuring in the electoral rolls, besides making the identification compulsory.
The state is going for electronic voting for the third time, after successfully using the Electronic Voting Machines for the first time in the country in Assembly polls held here in June 1999 and later on for the Lok Sabha polls the same year.
The tourist state is going for polls midway, before its five-year term expired, as the ruling BJP government dissolved the 40-member House after the Assembly completed 32 months, on 27 February this year.
