The Chief election commissioner Mr. VS Sampath announced the schedule for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Some Unique features of 16th Lok Sabha Elections:-
- For the first time, Voters will be able to exercise the “None Of The Above” (NOTA) option for candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
- Electoral strength in 2014 is 81.45 crore (814.5 million), the largest in the world
- Use of COMET (Communication Plan for Election): During the Elections, the Election Commission of India would be using an SMS based alert system called COMET. This system would send SMS messages to the lakhs of government officials on election duty. COMET would also send alerts to the local police in case of disturbances at any polling station.
- It would collect data via mobile phones about officials, scheduled events viz. staff reaching the polling station, mock polls, start/end of polling, voting %, number of voters, etc.
As per the schedule of the 16th Lok Sabha election 2014
- 9-phase general elections will begin from April 7 and end on May 12, 2014.
- Nine phases of polls: April 7, 9, 10, 12, 17, 24, 30, May 7 and May 12.
- It will be three phase poll in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, two phases in Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan and Tripura. All the remaining States and the UnionTerritories will have a single phase poll.
- The elections to the 294-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly will be held on April 30 and May 7 along with the respective Lok Sabha constituencies in the State.
- The Lok Sabha has strength of 543 (excluding two nominated members) and the term of thepresent 15th Lok Sabha ends on May 31, 2014.
- Counting of votes will be held on May 16, 2014
View Complete Schedule here: