There is a casual vacancy from 5-Bhatgaon AC in the State Legislative Assembly of Chhattisgarh which needs to be filled up. After taking into consideration various factors like, festivities, electoral rolls, etc., the Commission has decided to hold bye-election to fill up this casual vacancy as per programme indicated below: - Programme Event Date 1. Issue of Notification 06.09.2010 (Monday) 2. Last date of making Nominations 13.09.2010 (Monday) 3. Scrutiny of Nominations 14.09.2010 (Tuesday) 4.Last date for withdrawal of Candidatures 16.09.2010 (Thursday) 5. Date of Poll 01.10.2010 (Friday) 6. Counting of Votes 04.10.2010 (Monday) (to start at 8.00 am) 7. Date before which election shall be completed 07.10.2010 (Thursday) Hours of Poll 8.00 AM to 5.00 PM ELECTORAL ROLL The post-delimited electoral rolls in the State of Chhattisgarh including 5-Bhatgaon AC, with reference to 1.1.2010 as the qualifying date, have been revised and published on 01.09.2010. ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES (EVMs) The Commission has decided to use EVMs in this bye-election in all the polling stations. Adequate number of EVMs has been made available and all steps have been taken to ensure that the poll is conducted smoothly with the help of these machines. IDENTIFICATION OF VOTERS In consonance with the past practice, the Commission has decided that the voter’s identification shall be mandatory in the aforementioned bye-election at the time of poll. Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) shall be the main document of identity of a voter. However, in order to ensure that no voter is deprived of his/her franchise, if his/her name figures in the Electoral Rolls, separate instructions will be issued to allow additional documents for identification of voters at the time of poll in these bye-elections. MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT The Model Code of Conduct shall come into force with immediate effect in the district in which the whole or any part of the Assembly Constituency going for bye-election is included. The Model Code of Conduct shall be applicable to all candidates, political parties and the State Government. The Model Code of Conduct shall also be applicable to the Union Government as far as this State is concerned. Election Commission of India New Delhi, 3rd September, 2010