Amid predication of a close contest between the Congress and BJP, the campaign for the Karnataka Assembly polls scheduled on May 10 ended on Monday evening.
From what should voters carry along with them to how to verify your vote at the polling booth, here is a complete lowdown of the entire process:
First things first, how to find your name on the voter list and get your voter slip?
1) Check your name in the electoral list published on www.ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in . You can also download the 'Chunavana' mobile app on your smartphone and look for your name by typing your Voter ID number.
2) In case you have not received the voter slip, there is no need to panic as you can collect the slip from the counters set up by political parties near the polling stations.
How to know your candidates:
If you're not sure about the candidates in your constituency, you can click on 'contesting candidates' on the Chunavana app for the details. There you can see the photo, names and parties of the candidates.
How to find your booth and caste your vote?
On the Chunavana app, voters can click on 'Know your booth' icon, then tape their Voter ID number and it will show the location of their polling booth on the map along with the shortest possible routes.
How to know for how long you have to wait in the queue to cast your vote?
Check the length of the queue on the app as it gives you an update every 15 minutes.
What if you don't have EPIC?
If you have lost your Voter ID or Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC), you can use documents such as passport, driving license, PAN card, Aadhaar, election slip issued by ECI, and office ID cards issued to employees by central and state government undertakings. Other documents include: Passbook with photographs attested by banks or post office, MGNREGA job card and pension document with photograph.
Here are some of the important rules that one must be mindful of:
1) You must stand in the queue with your EPIC, voter slip or other IDs till your time comes.
2) Follow Covid-19 protocol.
3) Do not use mobile and other electronic gadgets inside polling booths.
4) Remember, selfies are not allowed.
5) After you enter the booth, polling officials will check your voter slip, crosscheck the ID, ink your finger, obtain your signature on a book and then give you a slip to vote.
6) Polling officer will then direct you to the secret chamber where you will cast your vote.
7) Once you are in front of the EVM machine, press the button next to the candidate of your choice and wait till the beep sound.
Facilities for special and general voters:
1) For specially-abled and people who are above 80 years of age, there is a pickup and drop facility available on the same app.
2) In case you have health issue and require immediate medical attention, click on 'health facilities' icon on the app and it will guide you to nearby hospitals with relevant numbers.
3) If you have any queries about the poll process, you can get in touch with polling officer via the app by clicking on 'list of officers' icon.
Election process and results
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that the Karnataka elections will be conducted in a single phase, and the results will be declared on May 13.
To form a government in the Karnataka Assembly, a party needs to win at least 113 seats. There are 36 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 15 for Schedules Tribes (ST). The incumbent Assembly has 75 seats held by Congress and 28 seats held by JD(S). The participating political parties are in the last leg of their campaigns and have released their list of candidates and manifestos.
Exit polls, date and time
The ECI will take three days to process the votes after the voting is complete. The Karnataka election result 2023 will be announced on 13 May, and the official result will be released on the ECI website.
However all the news channels will be running the exit polls on May 10 after the voting is completed. But it is crucial to note that as poll results are hard to decode, in many cases exit polls could perfectly predict who would come to power, but in an equal number of cases, they can be completely wrong. All in all, there is about a 50-50 chance about how accurate these results are.
Total voters in Karnataka
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reviewed the election arrangements and law & order conditions in the state on 1 May 2023 through a video conference.
The total number of voters in Karnataka is 5,21,73,579 crores, with 2.62 crores being male and 2.59 crores being female. The state has set up 58,282 polling stations across its various constituencies.
