BHUBANESWAR: A formal notification for bypoll to Dhamnagar Assembly constituency scheduled on November 3 was issued by the office of Sub-Collector, Bhadrak on Friday. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) SK Lohani told mediapersons that voting for the election will be held between 7 am and 6 pm in 252 booths. The polling process will be webcast live in 50 per cent of the booths.
The CEO said the Model Code of Conduct has come into force across Bhadrak district with immediate effect with the announcement of the by-poll. There are adequate number of EVMs and VVPATs for the by-election and a team of ECI officials will start inspecting them from Saturday, he added.
A total of 2,38,360 voters including 1,23,013 male and 1,15,314 female will cast their votes in the poll. The constituency also has 4,956 PwD voters and 7,206 voters above 80 years of age. The CEO said PwD voters, those above 80 years of age, Covid-infected and Covid-suspect voters can exercise their franchise through postal ballot.
The CEO said as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not issued any fresh Covid guidelines for conduct of the bypoll, advisory issued by the Odisha government will be followed for the exercise. The last date to file nomination is October 14.