Tight security, restrictions around counting centre

Mysore/Mysuru: The counting of votes for Lok Sabha Election – 2024 will commence nationwide  tomorrow (June 4) at 8 am.  Initial trends are expected by 10 am.

With just hours remaining before the count for the polls held in seven phases, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, reviewed the counting day preparations with all Chief Electoral Officers of States and Returning Officers this morning.

In Mysuru, the counting of votes for Mysuru-Kodagu LS  seat will start at 8 am at Maharani’s College of Commerce and Management in Vinayakanagar (Paduvarahalli). The counting centre has been fortified, with Paramilitary Forces and the City Police maintaining a strict round-the-clock vigil.

Counting staff and officers, including senior district officers, will assemble at 6 am and the strong rooms will be opened at 7.30 am in the presence of candidates or their agents.

The Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines will be brought to the counting tables in phases for the process to begin at 8 am.

Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra, who is also the District Electoral Officer, visited the counting centre this morning, accompanied by Election Observers and City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth.

All three floors of the counting centre have been utilised for this massive exercise. Each counting hall for every Assembly segment will have 14 tables. Only select agents of a candidate are allowed to observe the counting process through a mesh partition installed around the hall.

Poll agents and candidates have been issued ID cards for authorised entry.

Before the counting, every EVM will be shown to the candidate or their agents along with the number of votes polled booth-wise before unsealing.

In case of doubts regarding data, the votes in the VVPAT machines will be counter-checked. Agents and candidates will remain outside the barricaded area and can observe the process without any scope for  physical verification.

The counting centre features a media station with a giant LED screen for real-time data, health kiosks, offices for the District Electoral Officers & Poll Observers and computer rooms with internet and phone facilities.

The entire process will be video-recorded with CCTV cameras placed at key points, including entrances, corridors, the strong room and various offices.

Counting of votes will be carried out under the supervision of Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) or Assistant Election Officer (AEO). One ARO will supervise the counting of votes of one Assembly segment.  

After each round of counting, the respective AROs will announce the vote counts for each candidate. Barricades have been erected around the centre to prevent unauthorised access.

All roads leading to the counting centre have been barricaded to prevent public access and mikes have been set up near the barricades for people to listen to the results.

See trends/results

The counting trends and results, as per data entered by Returning Officers or Assistant Returning Officers will be available on the Election Commission of India website at the URL https://results.eci.gov.in/ as well as on the Voter Helpline App, both iOS and Android Mobile Apps.

The Voter Helpline App can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or Apple Play Store. Users can use the available filter to find out the winning/leading or trailing candidate details, along with the constituency-wise or State-wise results from the Voter Helpline App.