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Journalism of Courage
Over the last month and a half, 642 million voters have spoken in the largest democratic exercise in the history of the world. It is now time for them to be heard.
The counting of votes will begin at 8 am on Tuesday. Fairly clear trends are likely to emerge over the following four hours.
Who will be in charge of counting of votes?
Counting is carried out under the supervision and direction of the Returning Officer (RO) for each seat, in the presence of the candidates and their election agents. The RO, who is typically the District Magistrate of the district concerned, is nominated by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Assistant Returning Officers are also empowered to oversee the counting, especially where an RO is responsible for more than one constituency. The actual counting of votes in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at various tables is done by counting officials appointed by the RO, based on the anticipated number of postal ballots and the number of counting tables.
And who are these counting officials?
Each counting table has a counting superviser who is typically a gazetted officer or equivalent, a counting assistant, counting staff drawn from Group D employees, and a micro observer. The micro observer is responsible for the sanctity of the counting process at his/her table.
These officials are chosen from a database of officers using software developed centrally by the state’s Chief Electoral Officer.
Who is allowed inside the counting hall?
A counting hall may have several counting tables. Since the candidate or their election agent cannot be present at every counting location and table, the law permits the candidate to appoint as many counting agents as there are counting tables, including the table where postal ballots are counted.
The following are allowed to enter the counting hall: counting supervisers, counting assistants, micro-observers, ECI-authorised individuals and Observers, public servants on election duty, and candidates, election agents, and counting agents.
Police officers and government ministers are not classified as “public servants” in this context. No one, including the candidate, RO, or Assistant RO, is permitted to carry a mobile phone inside the counting hall. The only person who can do so is the ECI’s Observer.
Where will the votes be counted?
Rule 51 (“Time and place for counting of votes”) of The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, says that the “returning officer shall, at least one week before the date, or the first of the dates, fixed for the poll, appoint the place or places where the counting of votes will be done and the date and time at which the counting will commence…”
The ECI’s Handbook for Returning Officers says: “For the sake of uniformity, the date and time of counting of votes is fixed by the Commission.” The location of the counting is determined by the RO and should “preferably” be at the RO’s headquarters in the constituency. However, the ECI notes that “there will be no legal objection even if the place so fixed is outside the limit of the constituency”.
Votes for a specific Assembly constituency are counted at a single location. However, the ECI says that “each Assembly constituency or an Assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency is to be counted in a separate hall and under no circumstances can the counting of more than one Assembly constituency be taken simultaneously in a hall”.
Each counting hall “shall be a separate room walled on all sides preferably with separate exit and entry facilities”; if pre-constructed separate rooms are not available, large rooms should be divided to create halls, with each part constituting a hall separated by temporary partitions.
Each counting hall can have a maximum of 14 counting tables, in addition to the RO’s table.
How does the counting begin and progress?
Two types of votes are counted: EVM votes, and votes cast through postal ballots (which are used for senior citizens, physically challenged individuals, service voters, etc). Postal ballots are counted separately from EVM votes.
The process begins with the counting of postal ballots. All postal ballots are counted at the RO’s table.
EVM counting starts 30 minutes later. The Strong Room, where the polled EVMs are stored, is opened in the presence of the Observer, RO/ ARO(s), and the candidates or their election agents.
After making the necessary entries in the logbook maintained for this purpose, the seal of the lock is inspected and shown to the candidates or their election agents before being broken. The entire procedure is videographed with date and time stamps.
EVM counting is organised on tables arranged in rows and numbered sequentially. Seating arrangements are made for counting agents at each table.
Barricades or wire mesh are set up around each counting table to ensure that the EVMs are not physically accessible to the counting agents. The agents are required to remain seated beyond the wire mesh or barricades.
At each counting table, the votes cast at one polling station are addressed at a time. Only the Control Unit of the EVM used at each polling station is needed to determine the poll results for that station. The Ballot Units are kept in a secure strong room.
Along with the Control Unit, the vote account recorded in Form 17C for that polling station is provided to the counting table. After inspecting the paper seals, the counting official activates the Control Unit and presses the result button, and the total number of votes for each candidate and NOTA (None of the Above) at the polling station appears on the display panel.
The counting supervisor records the results as displayed for each candidate in “Part II-Result of Counting” of Form 17C. If needed, the result button can be pressed again to allow candidates and their agents to note the results. The control unit is then turned off.
How are the results announced?
After all EVMs for a particular round have been counted, and the ECI Observer has conducted a parallel count of two randomly selected EVMs, a tabulation for the round is done.
The RO announces the result of that round of counting, and signs the relevant record (Part II of Form 17C). Following this, the RO/ ARO verbally authorises the EVMs for the next round to be brought from the strong room into the counting hall.
The tallying of VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) commences after all rounds of EVM counting are completed. This process is done sequentially, not simultaneously, for all polling stations. On average, it takes about an hour to verify the slips from each VVPAT machine.
