Puducherry, May 2 (PTI) Puducherry Chief Electoral Officer P Jawahar on Saturday said elaborate arrangements are in place for the counting of votes polled in the April 9 assembly elections.
Counting of votes is scheduled for May 4 in all four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam under strict security and regulatory protocols.
The CEO said, in all, six counting centres have been set up across the Union Territory. In Puducherry region, counting of votes will take place at Women’s Engineering College, Motilal Nehru Government Polytechnic and Tagore Arts and Science College.
In Karaikal, counting will be held at the P G Centre of Arignar Anna Government Arts and Science College. In Mahe, the counting centre has been set up at Jawaharlal Nehru Government Higher Secondary School and in Yanam, it will be conducted at S R K Government Arts College.
According to the CEO, the counting process for assembly constituencies has been scientifically planned with adequate infrastructure and deployment of manpower.
A total of 166 counting tables have been arranged for counting of votes through EVMs and for VVPATs across the Union Territory, in addition to 35 tables earmarked for counting of postal ballots.
The CEO said the number of counting tables arranged for each Returning Officer ranges between 7 and 14 tables, depending upon the number of electors and polling stations in the respective Assembly constituencies.
Substantial manpower has been deployed for the smooth conduct of counting. There will be 218 counting supervisors, 221 counting Assistants and 232 micro-observers.
A three-tier security arrangement has been put in place at the counting centres in line with the guidelines of the Election Commission of India.
Adequate deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and local police has been made to ensure foolproof security at all the counting centres.
The CEO said that identity cards have been issued to candidates, their election agents and counting Agents for permission to enter the counting halls.
The CEO said that only authorised media persons and individuals with valid identity cards will be allowed into the counting halls.
Presspersons, candidates, election agents and counting agents will not be permitted to carry mobile phones inside the counting halls. They should deposit the mobile phones at the designated mobile phone deposit counters set up at the counting centres.
“The counting process will be conducted in a transparent, secure and orderly manner in strict compliance with the directives of the EC,” the officer said.
He said that the public could track the counting trends through the official website of the EC as well as through the ECINET App for real time updates.
The CEO said the EC has made comprehensive arrangements for the timely dissemination of trends of counting and also results to the public.
Round-wise trends and constituency-wise results will be made available in real time through the official website of ECI and through the ECINET App.
Results can also be viewed through results.eci.gov.in and the public, political parties, candidates and other stakeholders are advised to rely only on official updates published by the EC for accurate and verified information relating to counting trends and declaration of results, the CEO said. PTI COR ROH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.