lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Mar 10, 2019 20:33 IST

The Election Commission on Sunday also came up with a list of dos and don’ts for candidates on social media while declaring the dates for the Lok Sabha and state polls.

According to the poll panel, candidates will have to furnish the details of their social media accounts at the time of filing nominations.

Chief election commissioner Sunil Arora said all political advertisements on social media will need pre-certification. The EC has also asked Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to verify these ads.

The Lok Sabha election 2019 will be held in seven phases. Voting will begin on April 11 and the results will be declared on May 23. The elections will be held for 543 seats of the Lok Sabha on approximately 10 lakh polling booths across the country. The tenure of the current Lok Sabha ends on June 3.

Arora said all expenditure on campaigning advertisements on social media is to be included in the election expenditure account. He added that a social media expert will now be part of media certification and monitoring committees at district and state level.

The Election Commission also said candidates and political parties shall include all expenditure on campaigning, including expenditure on advertisement on social media in their election expenditure account.

The poll panel will also keep a close eye on various social media platforms during the election process.