8.1. Nomination Process

On the issue of notification, the Returning Officer shall give public notice of the intended election in such form and manner as may be prescribed, inviting nominations of candidates for such election and specifying place at which the nomination papers are to be delivered.

On or before the date appointed, each candidate shall either in person or by his proposer, deliver to the Returning Officer a nomination paper completed in the prescribed form and signed by the candidate and by an elector of the constituency as proposer. If the candidate belongs to a recognised national/state party, he/she would require only one elector of the constituency as proposer, under Section 33 of RPA, 1951. It also provides that as an independent candidate or a candidate of an unrecognised political party, ten electors from the constituency should subscribe his/her nomination paper as proposers.

In a constituency where any seat is reserved, a candidate shall not be deemed to fill that seat unless his nomination paper contains a declaration specifying the particular caste or tribe of which he is a member and the area in relation to which that caste or tribe is a scheduled caste or tribe of the State.

The candidate is also required to make declarations in the nomination form regarding his affiliation to a political party, if any, with name, and the choice of three election symbols in order of his preference.

As per Section 33 (7) of RPA 1951, a person cannot contest from more than two constituencies

for a Lok Sabha/Vidhan Sabha election.

Where the candidate is an elector of a different constituency, a copy of the electoral roll of that constituency, or a certified copy of the relevant entries in such roll shall be produced before the Returning Officer at the time of scrutiny.