Initial result trends by 10 am; final outcome by afternoon; Valmiki Road in Paduvarahalli out of bounds for public

Mysore/Mysuru: The fate of 143 candidates who are contesting from the 11 Assembly segments in Mysuru district will be known by afternoon on May 13 (tomorrow) along with the fate of their counterparts contesting from the remaining 213 seats across Karnataka. In the 224-member Karnataka, the magic number to form the Government is 113.

The counting of votes will begin at 8 am at the sole counting centre in Mysuru city — Maharani’s College of Commerce and Management in Vinayakanagar (Paduvarahalli). The centre has been fortified, with Paramilitary Forces and the City Police maintaining strict round-the-clock vigil ahead of the D-Day.

All the senior officers from the District Administration headed by Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra, who is the District Electoral Officer, City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth, DCPs and ACPs are overseeing the arrangements through frequent inspections of the counting centre.

There are 5,620 Ballot Units or EVMs, 4,266 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines and 3,936 Control Units for the 11 segments in Mysuru — K.R. Nagar, Periyapatna, Varuna, Chamaraja, Krishnaraja, Narasimharaja, H.D. Kote (ST), Nanjangud (SC), T. Narasipur (SC), Hunsur and Chamundeshwari. Initial trends are expected to be available by 10 am. 

All the three floors of the counting centre have been utilised for this massive exercise and divisions, barricades, no-entry areas, room-wise allocations, sections for observers, senior officers, returning officers, furniture, reserve equipment, electricity and back-up arrangements, counting officers, staff and supporting staff have been arranged and poll agents and candidates have been issued ID cards for authorised entry. 

Step-by-step process

Every counting hall for each Assembly segment will have 14 tables. Only select agents of a candidate are allowed to see the counting process through a mesh partition that is installed around the hall.

Prior to the counting, every EVM will be shown to the candidate or his/her agents and the number of votes polled booth-wise before unsealing.

The EVMs will be brought to the counting table in phases and the supporting staff for carrying the boxes have been appointed. In case there are doubts on data, the votes in the VVPAT machines will be counter-checked. Agents and candidates will be outside the barricaded area and they can see the process without any scope for physical verification.

After the EVM votes have been counted, the postal ballot will be counted and this morning, training on postal ballot counting was provided to the counting staff with various scenarios explained and were instructed on the action to be taken.

Separate sections for all

All the strong rooms where EVMs, control units and VVPAT machines are kept in the centres, have been totally secured and sealed, with the authorities leaving no chance for ensuring fool-proof security. The counting centre has a media station with a giant LED screen for real-time data, health kiosks, District Electoral Officers’ Office, Poll Observers’ Office and computer rooms with internet, phone and hotspot facilities.

The entire scenario at the centre and the counting process will be video-recorded, for which over 80 CCTV cameras have been installed at vantage points such as counting centre entry point, centre building entry, counting spot entry, strong room entry, inside strong room, corridors, around the building and also at media centre, health centre, DEO Office and Poll Observers’ Offices.

After the completion of every round of counting, the respective Returning Officer (RO) will announce the number of votes that each candidate has secured through a specified mike. Barricades have been erected all around the centres, to prevent trespassing into the centre. Only authorised officials and persons holding photo ID cards will be allowed inside the counting centre. Arrangements for food and water have been made for all.

While paramilitary forces are guarding the strong room, the Police are busily engaged in maintaining law and order around the centres. The winning candidate will be issued certificate at the spot after the official announcement of results, according to poll authorities who also said that Valmiki Road will be out of bounds for public tomorrow.