Election Commission bans release of exit polls for Haryana Assembly election until 6.30 pm on October 5 – Pankaj Agrawal
Chandigarh, Oct 1 - The Election Commission of India (ECI) has prohibited the release of exit polls for the upcoming Assembly elections in Haryana. Under Section-126A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, exit polls and the dissemination of their results are prohibited from the start of voting until half an hour after the end of polling. Start of voting has been counted from 7:00 am on September 18, 2024 as the election of Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir Assemblies were notified together. This ban will remain in effect until 6:30 PM on October 5, 2024, the day of polling.
Sharing this information here today, Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Sh. Pankaj Agrawal said that according to the notification, conducting and publishing or publicizing exit poll by means of the print or electronic media or dissemination in any other manner whatsoever, the result of any exit poll in connection with the aforesaid general election shall be prohibited until 6.30 PM on 05.10.2024 (Saturday).
In addition, displaying any election matter including results of any opinion poll or any other poll survey, in any electronic media, would be prohibited during the period of 48 hours ending with the hours fixed for the conclusion of the poll in connection with the general election. Violators of Section-126A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 may face imprisonment of up to two years, a fine, or both. All media houses are advised to follow these instructions.