New Delhi, July 23: The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule of bye-election for the South Tura (ST) Assembly constituency in Meghalaya, to fill up a clear vacancy. The polling for the Assembly Constituency is scheduled to be held on the 23rd August, 2018 and counting on 27thAugust, 2018. The Commission, after taking into consideration various factors like local festivals, electoral rolls and weather conditions, has decided to hold the bye-election as per the following schedule:
| Poll Event | Schedule |
| Date of Issue of Gazette Notification | 30.07.2018 (MON) |
| Last Date of Nominations | 06.08.2018 (MON) |
| Date for Scrutiny of Nominations | 07.08.2018 (TUE) |
| Last Date for Withdrawal of candidatures | 09.08.2018 (THU) |
| Date of Poll | 23.08.2018 (THU) |
| Date of Counting | 27.08.2018 (MON) |
| Date before which election shall be completed | 29.08.2018 (WED) |
The Electoral Rolls for all the Assembly Constituency has been finally published with respect to 01.01.2018. The Commission has decided to use EVMs and VVPATs in the bye-elections in all the polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available for the constituency and all steps have been taken to ensure that the polls are conducted smoothly using the machines. The Commission has decided, as in the past, that a valid document to prove the voter’s identification shall be mandatory for the voter to exercise her or his franchise. Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) shall be the main document to of identification. However, in order to ensure that no voter is deprived of his/her franchise, if the voter’s name figures in the Electoral Rolls, separate instructions will be issued to allow additional documents for identification of voters in due course during the bye-election. The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force with immediate effect in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Assembly Constituency going for bye-election is included, subject to the partial modification as issued vide Commission’s instruction No. 437/6/INST2016-CCS, dated 29th June, 2017 (available on the Commission’s website). The Model Code of Conduct shall be applicable to all candidates, political parties and the State Government concerned. It shall also be applicable to the Union Government for the district of the State concerned.
