Achi news desk-
The State Election Commission officials have completed the preparations for counting the Lok Sabha elections. To count the votes cast in 11 Lok Sabha seats, Chhattisgarh Election Commission officials have designated 94 counting halls in the state.
.
Counting will begin in these counting halls from 8 am on June 4. To ensure a timely count, the election committee set the entry time at 7 am. Only after a three-layer security check, the counting agents, the workers and the other police officers deployed for the counting will be able to enter the counting place.
Chief Electoral Officer gives information to the media.
People who do not hold tickets will not be allowed to enter the counting place. To avoid disputes, the commission maintained a car-free zone up to 100 meters from the counting hall. Everyone will have to walk to get here. Besides video in the counting hall, the control room and on the spot, the commission will also make a CCTV recording, so that it can be used as evidence.
Duty 6,000 562 officers and employees
Excluding security personnel, Election Commission officials deployed 6,000 officers and workers on duty at the polling stations. The role of these officers and employees was assigned to 94 counting halls. These Officer-Workers VS except two each in Ramanujanj, Samari, Kundgaon and Kashkal constituencies, the counting of votes in all the 86 assembly constituencies will be done in one hall each.
The address of the counting places, the day, the time and advance information about the counting process were given to all the candidates by the marshals. In view of the counting of votes, June 4, 2024 was declared a dry day in all districts of the country. 11 Returning Officers, 476 Assistant Returning Officers, 4362 Enumerators, 1671 Micro Observers and 42 Count Observers have been appointed by the Election Commission of India for 90 Assembly constituencies in 11 Lok Sabha constituencies.
A Chief Electoral Officer leaves the counting centers during the inspection.
A micro observer will be appointed at each table
The Chief Electoral Officer told mediapersons that each counting table will have a counting observer, counting assistant and a micro-observer as the observer’s representative. This micro observer will be an officer of the central government enterprise.
In each hall, EVM counting of assembly constituencies included in the Lok Sabha constituency will be done in 21 tables in 6 assembly constituencies Pandariya, Kawardha, Sarangarh, Bilaigarh, Bharatpur-Sonhat and Kasdol and a total of 14 tables in all other 84 assembly constituencies.
Entrance to the counting hall will be available from different gates.
Separate entries were made for candidates/counting agents in each counting hall designated by the Commission. Also, there will be separate entrances for the Returning Officer/Assistant Returning Officer and other staff involved in counting. All these people will get entry from different gates.
ID will need to be presented at each level
Photo-based identity cards have been issued to all candidates, their counting agents and polling agents. Three-level security arrangements were made at the counting centers, in which entry will be granted only after checking the identity cards at each level.
District police forces will be deployed on the first and outer level of the census centers, from where there will be an area of ​​100 meters of pedestrian traffic. Vehicles will not be allowed to enter the area for pedestrians. The first tier will have an appropriate local police force along with a senior magistrate who will check the identity of the entrants.
The candidate-agent will have to go through three layers of security before reaching the counting hall.
Armed forces of the state will be deployed in the second tier. Before entering, each person will be checked and searched on the basis of an ID card, so that no one will enter with a mobile phone and other prohibited items. On the third level, central police forces will be present at the entrance of the counting hall. A search will be conducted here as well, so that mobile phones and prohibited objects cannot enter.
A media center will be established in each counting center. Here a senior officer is appointed, who will observe the group of media persons from time to time. The committee marked the place with lime as soon as the media person arrived. In the counting hall, the members of the media will be able to record only by carrying a hand-held camera. The commission did not give permission for permanent cameras.
Only these people will be allowed to enter the counting hall
- Returning Officer/Assistant Returning Officer.
- Counting Supervisor, Counting Assistant and Micro Observer.
- People and observers authorized by the Election Commission.
- Public servants on duty in connection with the elections.
- Candidates, their election agents and counting agents.
These people will not be allowed entry to the counting place
- Central and state ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers
- Mayor of the Municipal Corporation
- Chairman Nagar Panchayat/Municipality
- District President/Janpad Panchayat
- Other protected persons will not be allowed to be appointed as counting agents.
A chief election officer gives instructions to the people in the counting hall.
The order of meetings of the counting agents of the candidates at the counting centers will be in this order.
- Counting candidate agents of recognized national parties.
- Counting candidate agents of recognized state parties.
- A count of candidate agents of recognized state parties of other states who have been allowed to use their reserved symbols in the constituency.
- Counting agents of candidates of registered-unrecognized political parties.
- Counting agents of independent candidates.
These rules must be followed
- No counting agent will be allowed to move from his table to any other table in the hall.
- No one will be allowed to enter the counting hall with any electronic device, camera, smart watch, laptop, gutka, cigarette.
- Calculators and pens will also be made available to the enumeration agents spread on the board in each Assembly District by the Returning Officer/Assistant Returning Officer concerned.
- Candidates and their agents will be able to enter the counting center with paper and pencil only.
Postal vote counting system
- The postal notes will be divided into two categories, the first will be in the form of electronically sent postal notes (ETPBS) and the second in the form of ordinary postal notes (PB).
- Verification at the ETPBS count will be done electronically by scanning a QR code on envelopes and declarations.
- The identity of each postal note sent to an ETPB voter will be encrypted in the form of a QR code.
- The process of verifying the postal ballots that will arrive during the count will be by scanning the QR code on the label affixed to the envelope (format 13c and 13b) and the voter’s declaration (format 13a). The counting of postal ballots will involve manual verification at the Commissioner’s desk by cross-referencing the serial numbers on the envelopes and statements (Format 13A, B and C) in each set.
After the security check, entry to the hall will be granted in this way.
First postal vote, EVM counting starts after half an hour
EVM counting will start 30 minutes after the counting of postal notes starts. The counting of postal ballots can continue in any round of EVM counting. VVPAT slips will be counted after the EVM counting is complete.
First, the mail-in ballot will be counted on the table by the election manager. Later the counting of votes done using EVM will be done on other tables. After completing one round of counting, another EVM will be brought to each counting table.
The chairman’s signature will be examined
During the counting, the relevant account of the votes registered in Form 17C related to the ballot box together with the control unit will also be given on the counting table. The seal affixed to each carry case will have to be checked by the presiding officer. If the seal is correct, the counting of votes will begin.
Each control unit will be checked based on a serial number to verify if it is the same control unit that was used in the ballot box. Also, the stamp of the ‘candidate array section’ and the stamp of the outer cover of the ‘result block’ will be checked. Inside this block will be a green paper seal. The serial number will be written on the seal. This will be matched to the 17C format serial number.
The Commission will make a video recording and CCTV in the counting hall, so that it can be used as evidence in the event of a dispute.
The votes will be published after each round
After the end of the counting of each round on the round table of the assembly wisdom set up at the counting place, the assistant director of elections will give his information in a format to the district election officer and the election officer. In the presence of observers, after each round, information on the votes received by all the candidates will be given through a loudspeaker and a copy of it will also be made available to the candidates. Along with the calculation of each round, the total number of votes received by the candidates will also be given in the format.
The assembly of the Lok Sabha seat is in another district, so the report will come from there.
If a Lok Sabha constituency includes the Legislative Assembly of more than one district, then the District Electoral Officer of the district concerned shall send the return information and final result of that Legislative Assembly to the Returning Officer of the Lok Sabha constituency.
This officer will receive the total results of all the assembly seats in his area and the assembly seats of other districts. For this purpose, a team of officers associated with the accounting work of the Finance Division will make tabulations of the votes at the counting place and will then be checked by the observer. Then finally the Lok Sabha election result will be announced and the victory certificate will be given.