The Vellore Parliamentary constituency in Tamil Nadu will go to polls on August 5 and counting will take place on August 9, the Election Commission announced on Thursday. The Commission also announced that polling for the Patkura Assembly seat in Odisha will take place on July 20. The elections in this constituency were postponed earlier due to cyclone Fani.

In April this year, President Ram Nath Kovind rescinded the elections to the Vellore Lok Sabha seat based on a recommendation of the Election Commission following a report that money power was being used to influence voters. The Income Tax Department had seized ₹11.48 crore from the house of the alleged associate of DMK treasurer whose son was the party candidate from Vellore.

The Commission has decided to use Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in all the polling stations this time. Adequate numbers of EVMs and VVPATs have been made available and steps have been taken to ensure the polls are conducted smoothly.

“In consonance with the past practice, the Commission has decided that the voter’s identification shall be mandatory in the election at the time of poll. Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) shall be the main document of identification of a voter. However, 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 the polls,” the Commission said in a statement.

The Commission further said that the Model Code of Conduct will come into effect immediately.

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