General Elections and bye-elections 2026: Pre-certification of print-ads by MCMC on Pre-poll and Poll Day

General Elections and bye-elections 2026 - Pre-certification of print-ads by MCMC on Pre-poll and Poll Day

By PIB Delhi

Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the General Election to Legislative Assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, and bye-elections in 6 states on March 15,2026.

In order to ensure a fair campaign environment, no political party, candidate, organization or person shall publish any advertisement in the print media on the poll day and one day prior to the poll day, unless the contents are pre-certified by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at the State/District level.

Individuals or contesting candidates can apply for certification of advertisements with District MCMC. All registered political parties headquartered in a State/UT can apply for certification of such advertisements with the State Level MCMC.

Accordingly, precertification of ads in poll-bound states/UT are necessary as per the schedule given below:

Name of State/UT going for general elections	Poll Date	Dates of publication for which Precertification of print ads is mandatory
Assam, Kerala and Puducherry	09.04.2026	08.04.2026 & 09.04.2026
Tamil Nadu	23.04.2026	22.04.2026 & 23.04.2026
West Bengal	23.04.2026 (Ph-I)	22.04.2026 & 23.04.2026
29.04.2026(Ph-II)	28.04.2026 & 29.04.2026

Applicants seeking pre-certification for political advertisements in print media must apply to the MCMC not later than two days prior to the proposed date of publication of the advertisement.

To facilitate timely pre-certification, MCMC at the State/District levels has been activated to examine and pre-certify such advertisements and ensure decisions are made expeditiously.

MCMCs shall also keep a strict vigil on suspected cases of paid news in the media and take suitable action.