EC bans exit polls till election ends on March 3
The Election Commission has placed a ban on the release of exit polls till March 3, the date on which polling for Assembly elections will end in the five states of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Goa.
In a notification issued in the national capital, the Commission has also banned opinion polls in any manner on electronic media for period of 48 hours, counted backwards from closing of polls, in each phase.
However, the ban on exit polls will apply to both the electronic and print media till 5:30 pm on March 3, while the ban on opinion polls will only apply to electronic media.
The EC clarified, “There is no ban on opinion polls in the print media as Section 126 of Representation of the People Act 1951, does not apply to print media.”
