Chennai: Counting of votes from 8 am on May 23
‘Draw of lots’ to be held to count VVPAT slips.
Chennai: After the euphoria or disbelief among political parties over exit polls predictions and as they brace themselves for the accurate results, the Election Commission is all set to commence the process of counting of votes on May 23 for 38 Lok Sabha constituencies and 22 Assembly seats where by-polls were held, from 8 am.
"The counting of votes for general elections to Lok Sabha, 2019, from 38 parliamentary constituencies and byelections to 22 Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu will be taken up on May 23 with the counting of postal ballots and pre-counting of ETPBS (Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballots) at 8 am. Each parliamentary constituency consists of 6 Assembly segments and the postal ballot counting for the parliamentary constituency will be taken up in one of the Assembly segment counting halls," the Election Commission has said.
In the case of byelections to 22 Assembly constituencies, counting of postal ballots will commence at 8 am while the counting of votes polled in EVMs will begin from 8.30 am.
The EVM counting will be taken up round wise in a pre-determined order. In a statement here on Tuesday, Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said as per ECI's recent instruction, counting of EVM votes can continue, without waiting for completion of counting of postal ballots.
All rejected postal ballot papers will be mandatorily re-verified by the Returning Officer before declaring result, in cases where the margin of victory is less than the number of postal ballot papers, rejected as invalid.
Draw of lots for VVPAT slip counting:
The counting for the VVPAT slip would be taken up by drawing of lots by selecting 5 polling stations in each Assembly constituency.
"The draw of lots will be conducted immediately after the completion of the last round of counting of votes recorded in EVMs and VVPAT paper slips count due to non-display of result from Control Unit or under Rule 56 (D) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961," the statement read.
The candidates and their agents have been intimated about the draw of lots. "White colour paper cards of postcard size will be used for conducting the draw of lots. Total number of paper cards will be equal to the total number of polling stations in the Assembly Constituency," he said.