Chennai: With the announcement of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections, candidates nominated by various parties will be able to file their nomination papers on only four specific days, as four of the eight designated days are public holidays when government offices will remain closed.
Tamil Nadu Election 2026: Nomination schedule and holiday constraints
State Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik has clarified that nominations cannot be filed on March 31, April 3, April 4, and April 5, as these dates are public holidays. Following the announcement of election dates by the Election Commission yesterday, the Legislative Assembly election in Tamil Nadu is scheduled to take place on April 23.
The Model Code of Conduct came into immediate effect following the announcement, and the filing of nominations is set to commence on March 30. April 6 has been designated as the final day for filing nominations. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be conducted on April 7, and April 9 has been announced as the deadline for the withdrawal of nominations.
Available nomination days
Addressing the media regarding the elections, Archana Patnaik explained the schedule in detail. Nominations can be filed on March 30 between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM. She reiterated that nominations cannot be filed on March 31, April 3, April 4, and April 5, as these are public holidays and government offices will remain closed on those days. Consequently, candidates can file their nominations on only four specific days: March 30, April 1, April 2, and April 6.
The fact that four out of the eight days allotted for filing nominations happen to be holidays has become a subject of debate. Given the likelihood that various new candidates will be contesting the election, a situation has arisen where they are compelled to complete the nomination filing process well in advance. It is also viewed that this approach will help in avoiding last-minute confusion.
Voter statistics
Archana Patnaik also provided updated voter statistics during her address. As of March 15, the total number of voters in Tamil Nadu stands at 5.69 crores. Of these, 2.90 crores are female voters and 2.78 crores are male voters.
Following the nomination period, voting for all 234 constituencies will take place in a single phase on April 23. The counting of votes and the announcement of results are scheduled for May 4.