8 things you should know about General Elections 2014

1. Election Dates – April 7 to May 12

Voting for General Elections 2014 will be held over a nine-day period from April 7 to May 12.

2. Election results on May 16

Counting of votes will be held on May 16, 2014.

3. March 9 electoral rolls displayed at all polling stations

Special camps will be held on March 9, 2014 (Sunday) at all polling stations – for voters to check their names in the electoral list, and to verify or modify any elector-related details.

4. Transgendered Voters

EC has allowed enrollment of transgender persons with gender written as "Others" in the electoral rolls since 2012. The number of electors enrolled as transgender stands at 28,314.

5. Basic Facilities provision

Every Polling Station will be equipped with basic facilities like drinking water, shed, toilet, ramp for the physically challenged voters and a standard voting compartment etc.

6. NOTA

In the Ballot Units, below the name of the last candidate, there will now be a button for NOTA option so that electors who do not want to vote for any of the candidates can exercise their option by pressing the button against NOTA.

To know more about NOTA, please visit - http://www.jaagore.com/power-of-49/not-a-bad-move

7. Photo Voter Slips

EC has directed that Voter Slip, along with Photo (wherever present in the roll) will be distributed to all enrolled voters by the District Election Officer. Additionally, the said Voter Slip should be in languages in which electoral roll is published for that assembly constituency. These Voter Slips will also be accepted as identity proof of voters at Polling Stations.

8. Complaint Redressal Mechanism – Call Centre and Website

All States/ UTs shall have a complaint redressal mechanism based on a dedicated call centre and website. The National Call Centre number is 1950 - a toll free number. The URL of the complaint registration website will be announced for each State/ UT by the respective Chief Electoral Officer separately.