New Delhi: The Kerala Assembly elections will be held on 16 May and the results will be announced on 19 May, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi announced here on Friday.
The notification for elections will be issued on 22 April and the last date to file nominations is 29 April.
The scrutiny of nominations will take place on 30 April and the last date to withdraw nominations is 2 May.
Apart from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal are heading for polls this year. Voting in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will also be held on 16 May.
The Model Code of Conduct will come into effect immediately, the panel said.
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There will be 21,498 polling booths in Kerala for 2.56 crore voters of the state to cast their votes.
Mobile squads will have GPS-fitted vehicles and be accompanied by central forces to ensure that they quickly attend to complaints.
Photos, symbol for NOTA
The photos of candidates will be displayed adjacent to their names on the voting machine 'to remove confusion in minds of voters about candidates' identities', the poll panel said.
The elections will also see for the first time a symbol, which has been created by the National School of Design, allotted to NOTA (None of the above) that will be placed at the bottom of the list of candidates.
18,000 voting machines will deliver receipts to the voters, Zaidi said.
The upcoming #AssemblyElections will have a symbol for #NOTA: CEC #NoneOfTheAbove pic.twitter.com/mptmPFPgwS
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The Commission has also appealed to people to chek their names in electoral roll and enroll themselves as voters if not already done.
Noting that voters are in the focus of the Commission, Zaidi said all booths will have seven basic facilities and there will also be all-women polling booths.
6 phases of polling in Bengal
In Assam, the first phase of polling will be on 4 April and the second phase will be held on 11 April.
West Bengal will see a 6-phased election over 7 days - 4 April (first phase), 11 April (first phase), 17 April, 21 April, 25 April, 30 April and 5 May.
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Polling in #WestBengal in 6 phases; to start on 4 April 2016
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"Around 17 crore voters will cast their vote in the Assembly elections in these five states," Zaidi said.
Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry assemblies have 126, 140, 234, 294 and 30 constituencies respectively.
Voters can register themselves on the voters' list up to 10 days before the end of nomination submission.
The Commission had visited all five states and took the opinion of the regional parties and officials.
There has been a delay in announcing the dates as there is uncertainty over the deployment of security forces for elections.