Karnataka Assembly elections 2018: Notification for May 12 polls issued

Bengaluru: Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R Vala on Tuesday notified the May 12 elections to the 224-member Assembly, the State Election Commission said.

"The Governor is pleased to call upon the people to elect members to the 15th legislative assembly in accordance with the Representation of the People's Act, 1951," the poll panel said in a statement here.

Of the total seats, 36 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes.

The notification paves the way for candidates to file nominations in the constituencies they are contesting from.

April 24 is the last date for filing nominations while scrutiny will be taken up on April 25. The last date for withdrawal is April 27.

Polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm across the state on May 12. Votes will be counted on May 15.

Elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful voting amid tight security at 58,546 polling booths across 224 constituencies, using Electronic Voting Machines along with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails.

As many as 450 polling booths are 'pink booths', managed by all-women officials, including police, in all Assembly segments.

The southern state has 4.96 crore registered electors, including 2.52 crore men and 2.44 crore women. Over 15 lakh are first-time voters in the 18-19 age group.

About 3.5 lakh security personnel will be deployed during the polling in the state.