Tamil Nadu Assembly elections 2026: full schedule

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday (March 15, 2026) announced the complete schedule for the 234 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu. The polling is to be held on April 23, 2026, and the counting is on May 4, 2026.

The total number of electors in Tamil Nadu, according to the electoral rolls, is 5.67 crore. Of the 234 Assembly seats, 44 have been reserved for Scheduled Castes and 2 for Scheduled Tribes, it noted.

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12. 51 lakh young electors (18-19 years of age) are likely to cast their vote for the first time in Tamil Nadu. The figure is the highest among the five poll-bound States. Moreover, third-gender electors and electors with disabilities have been pegged at 7,617 and 4.63 lakh, respectively. The senior citizens to cast votes (85+ years) have been estimated at around 3.99 lakh for the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.

The announcement stated that 75,032 polling stations have been set up to conduct the State’s Assembly polls. “It has been decided that there shall be a maximum of 1200 electors in a polling station. An extensive survey has been carried out during the exercise of rationalisation of polling stations for setting up new polling stations in the High Rise/Group Housing societies/RWA colonies that have common facilitation area/community halls at ground floor within the premises and in slum dwelling clusters of urban areas”, the notification said.

The complete schedule for 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections is as follows:

Date of Issue of Gazette Notification: March 30, 2026 (Monday)

Last Date for making Nominations: April 4, 2026 (Monday)

Date for the scrutiny of Nominations: April 7, 2026 (Tuesday)

Last date for the withdrawal of candidatures: April 9, 2026 (Thursday)

Date of Poll: April 23, 2026 (Thursday)

Date of Counting: May 4, 2026 (Monday)

Date before which election shall be completed: May 6, 2026 (Wednesday)