Amaravathi: The Election Commission (EC) has made elaborate arrangements for Thursday’s counting of votes for the 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh.
The counting process will begin at 8am in all the 55 counting centres across 13 districts in the state.
Amid a prevailing tense situation following the exit poll predictions, the EC and local administration have taken all necessary steps in the state. Security has been tightened Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. Police officers are expecting all the candidates and senior leaders of the Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Reddy’s YSR Congress (YSRC) to come down to their leaders’ residences in Amaravati when counting would be underway.
Heightened security is also in place for other senior political leaders and counting centres with the deployment of 15 companies of paramilitary forces and local police. Sections 144, 30 have been imposed across all the counting centres in the state.
As many as 200 election observers have been sent to the state for the counting day. The entire counting process would also be video-graphed.
The Election Commission has asked all counting agents to reach their centres before 7am on Thursday. No electronic devices, including mobile phones, will be allowed inside the centres.
Only election observers will be allowed to carry on their cell phones. Postal votes will be counted first, followed by service votes. Then, the regular counting will begin.
The actual counting of votes polled in electronic voting machine (EVM)s will start at 8.30am. Votes for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will be counted separately.
Electronic boards displaying trends and results have also been set up at all the centres.
Only after the results are uploaded in the EC’s Suvidha website, that outcome would be considered official.
The Result of Narasapuram Assembly constituency is expected to come fast, while voters of the Rampachodavaram Assembly seat may get to know the outcome last.
Counting of votes polled in EVMs are likely to end by 1pm, after which VVPAT slips would be matched. Slips of five VVPAT devices will be counted for accurate results. If any difference in result is found, there will be recounting of votes. If difference persists, the result will be declared on the basis of votes polled in VVPATs.
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)
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