Thiruvananthapuram, May 1: The Election Commission on Friday said that all procedures have been completed in connection with the tallying of the votes polled in the April 9 Assembly elections in Kerala and issued a number of dos and don’ts to be followed by political parties’ agents and the media during the counting process on May 4.
Kerala Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rathan U Kelkar said, in a statement, that the counting will begin at 8 am on May 4 at 140 centres located in 43 places and a total of 15,465 personnel will be involved in the process.
The personnel include, 140 Returning Officers (ROs), 1,340 Assistant ROs (AROs), 4,208 micro observers, 4,208 counting supervisors and 5,563 counting assistants, he said.
The counting of votes will start with the postal ballots and EVMs of a maximum 14 booths will be counted in one round, the CEO said.
He said that the rooms where the polling materials are kept will be opened in the presence of the candidates or their authorised representatives, the observer designated by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the concerned officials, and will be video recorded.
During the counting process, if there is any discrepancy between the number of votes cast in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the number of votes cast by the voters in the booth, the VVPAT slips (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) will be counted, he said in the statement.
The VVPAT slips will bear the serial number, name and symbol of the candidate, it added.
After verifying the number of votes cast in the EVM, it will be reconciled with the information in form 17C part one which contains the account of votes recorded at a polling station.
In order to ensure efficiency of the counting process, two EVM observers will carry out random counting in each round and besides that, VVPAT of 5 booths in each constituency will be compuslorily counted, Kelkar said.
The CEO also issued instructions to the officer bearers and agents of the political parties and these included carrying and displaying their official identity card at all times, arriving on time at the centre, cooperating with the officials, sitting in their designated places and maintaining confidentiality of the counting process.
They were also instructed not to touch or tamper with the EVMs.
Additionally, parties were directed not to designate Union or state ministers as counting agents at the centres for security reasons, and to ensure strict discipline is observed, the statement said.
Failure to maintain discipline at the counting centre will lead to the person concerned being removed from there, it added.
It further said that only valid pass holders and designated officials (RO, ARO, employees, candidates, agents, and public servants) will be allowed to enter the counting hall.
The guidelines for the media, to ensure security and confidentiality of the counting process, included not entering the counting hall beyond the demarcated lines for journalists and using handheld cameras to take pictures of the counting hall and the proceedings.
The media has been prohibited from recording the actual votes received by a candidate and using video or still cameras with tripods inside the counting hall, the statement said.
They have also been instructed not to obstruct the movement of the counting staff or the the removal of EVMs and to leave their mobile phones outside the hall.
