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Jaipur, May 25 (HS). Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta held a review meeting with the District Election Officers on Saturday regarding the process of counting of votes of 25 Lok Sabha constituencies and Bagidora Assembly by-election in the state and the arrangements for the counting center during the Lok Sabha General Elections – 2024. He gave necessary guidelines to the officials regarding the preparations for counting of votes. Gupta said that in view of the scorching heat, proper cooling arrangements should be made at all 29 counting centers and uninterrupted power supply should be ensured at the entire counting place. He said that for the convenience of counting personnel and counting agents, arrangements should be made for cold drinking water, medical kits and coolers in each counting room. Proper cooling arrangements should also be made for media persons in the media center at all counting centers.
The Chief Electoral Officer directed the District Election Officers to obtain the lists of counting agents nominated by the candidates and political parties by 5 pm on May 31. The concerned Returning Officer should finalize the lists by checking the eligibility of the agents as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India. The Chief Electoral Officer directed the District Election Officers, Police Commissioner and Superintendents of Police to strictly follow the security norms at the counting center. He informed that the day of counting has been declared a dry day in the entire state. Gupta said that uninterrupted CCTV coverage of the process of bringing all CUs, VVPAT machines and related documents from the strong room to the counting hall before counting and taking them back to the strong room after counting should be ensured. The CCTV coverage of this period will be visible to the candidates or their agents on TV/monitor in the counting hall. The entire counting process in the counting hall will be covered with 360 degree CCTV camera or videography with date and time stamp. He said that under no circumstances, video recording of the actual votes displayed on EVMs or ballot papers should be done.
The Chief Electoral Officer said that the police will monitor the exchange of information through social media to neutralize rumors regarding the counting of votes and immediate action will be taken on any kind of misleading, objectionable post. To maintain the law and order situation during the counting of votes and after the declaration of election results, proper arrangements for barricading, police arrangements, parking arrangements etc. should be ensured at the level of the District Election Officer. He said that the District Magistrate should ban events like Vijay Jhoothi, Harsh Firing, use of DJ vehicles, vehicle rally etc. after the counting of votes as per the provisions of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Chief Electoral Officer Gupta also held a meeting with the representatives of political parties on Saturday regarding the process of counting of votes of 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state during the Lok Sabha General Elections – 2024 and the arrangements for the counting center. Representatives of Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian National Congress and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party along with officials of the Election Department participated in this meeting.
Gupta told the representatives of political parties that preparations for counting of votes have been completed in the state. He asked the political parties to submit the lists of their counting agents to the concerned Returning Officer's office by May 31. He gave detailed information about the qualifications of the agents and the counting process. He said that during the counting, complete compliance of law and order will be ensured as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India. The Returning Officer will not take instructions from any political person, minister or senior officer nor will he show any kind of bias. Despite having a valid authorization letter for entry into the counting venue, if the RO has a reasonable doubt about the presence of a person in the counting hall, he can search him.
Gupta said that adequate number of security personnel will be deployed outside the counting hall and no person will be allowed to enter or leave the room without permission. The RO will maintain complete order and discipline to ensure that the counting of votes is done in a systematic manner. No mobile phone, I-Pad, laptop or any audio or video recording device will be allowed inside the counting center except the equipment required for the official use of the Commission's observers and to broadcast the counting data. The Chief Electoral Officer said that telephone, computer and internet facilities etc. will be available at the Media Center in a separate room at the counting center for authorized media persons. To make the media persons aware of the latest trends and results of the counting, it will be displayed on a large LED screen in the Media Center through the Commission's IT application Trend-TV. This will provide the latest trends and results of the counting to the media persons at one place. A link has also been provided on the Chief Electoral Officer's website (https://ceorajasthan.nic.in/) to make the general public aware of the trends and results of the counting. Round-wise information of counting of votes of each Lok Sabha constituency will be available on this link. Trends and results will also be available on the Election Commission's 'Voter Helpline App'.
Gupta said that the counting of postal ballots will start first. The results of postal ballots will be announced candidate-wise. EVM counting will start at 8:30 am, half an hour after the counting of postal ballots. As per the rules, after the completion of each round, the result of that round will be announced and the counting of the next round will begin. The Chief Election Officer said that the counting of votes cast through EVMs will be completed in 4,033 rounds. There will be a total of 235 rooms for counting, while there will be 62 rooms for postal ballots. 2,713 tables will be set up for counting EVM votes and 800 tables will be set up for counting votes cast through postal ballots and ETBPS. He said that a total of 3,500 micro observers have been appointed for the counting tables. More than 1,200 AROs have been trained for counting in the state. A total of 56 counting observers have been appointed by the Election Commission of India.
The Chief Electoral Officer said that there will be a counting supervisor, counting assistant, counting staff and a micro observer at the EVM counting table. Similarly, there will be an assistant returning officer, a counting supervisor, two counting assistants and a micro observer at the postal ballot counting table. Micro observers will be officers and employees of the Central Government department. Gupta said that the counting agents of the candidates will also be present at the EVM/postal ballot table. Separate routes/paths/arrangements have been determined to reach the machines from the strong room to the counting hall, which will have CCTV coverage. No one other than the election observer is allowed to carry mobile phones in the counting hall. Only the Returning Officer, Assistant Returning Officer and Counting Supervisor who are connected to the ETPBMS will be able to carry mobile phones only for OTP to open the ETPBMS system and after that they will switch off the mobile and deposit it with the observer, returning officer and assistant returning officer.