New Delhi, September 25: The dates for Bihar Assembly Elections was announced today by the Election Commission. The polling will take place in three-phase amid the coronavirus pandemic. Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora announced that to decongest polling station and allow free movements of voters, the polling time has been increased by 1 hour.

Talking about having the election amid the coronavirus pandemic, CEC said, "As days and months passed and COVID-19 showed no signs of abetting, it was realised that some way would have to be found to balance the democratic rights of the electorate while also making sincere and systematic efforts to protect health and safety of people." Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 Dates And Schedule: Voting in 3 Phases on October 28, November 3 and 7, Poll Results on Nov 10.

Here are some of the other COVID-19 related guidelines announced by CEC today: 

  • The polling will take place from 7 am to 6 pm, instead of 7 am to 5 pm. However, this will not be applicable to Left-Wing affected areas.

  • Every person shall wear a face mask during every election-related activity

  • At the entry of hall/ room/ premises used for election purposes - Thermal Scanning of all persons shall be carried out; sanitizer, soap and water shall be made available

  • COVID-19 patients who're quarantined will be able to cast their vote on the last day of poll, at their respective polling stations, under the supervision of health authorities. This is beside the option of the postal facility already extended to them.

  • Over 7 lakh hand sanitiser units, about 46 lakh masks, 6 lakh PPE kits, 6.7 lakh units of faces-shields, 23 lakh (pairs of) hand gloves arranged. For voters specifically, 7.2 crore single-use hand gloves have been arranged.

  • Large halls should be identified and utilized to ensure social distancing norms.

  • The nomination form will also be available online on the website of CEO/ DEO.

  • At the polling station, if the temperature is above the set norms of MoHFW at first reading, then it will be checked twice and if it remains, then the elector shall be provided with token/certificate and will be asked to come for voting at the last hour of the poll. At the last hour of the poll, such electors shall be facilitated voting, strictly following coronavirus related norms.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 25, 2020 02:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).