Key Statutory Dates & Chronology

Milestone 01

Issue of Notification & Nominations Begin

27 March 1996

Statutory gazette notification published; filing of candidate nominations commences before Returning Officers across all 234 assembly segments.

Milestone 02

Last Date for Making Nominations

03 April 1996

Cut-off for candidate nomination papers and mandatory affidavit disclosures (Form 26, asset declarations, and criminal history records).

Milestone 03

Scrutiny of Nominations

04 April 1996

Returning officers review all submitted nomination papers, verify proposer eligibility, party symbols authorization (Form A & B), and legal qualifications.

Milestone 04

Last Date for Withdrawal of Candidatures

06 April 1996

Deadline for candidate voluntary withdrawals; final list of contesting candidates and symbol allocations prepared for EVM ballot units.

Milestone 05 β€’ Polling Day

Single-Phase General Polling

02 May 1996

Universal adult suffrage polling across 68,000+ polling stations in all 234 assembly constituencies with VVPAT-enabled electronic voting machines.

Milestone 06 β€’ Counting

Counting of Votes & Declaration

10 May 1996

Commencement of EVM postal ballot counting and EVM round counting across designated counting centers; winners issued Certificates of Election (Form 22).

Milestone 07

Completion of Election Process

12 May 1996

Statutory deadline for the completion of the election process and submission of the list of elected members to the Hon'ble Governor of Tamil Nadu.