EC ORDER: No Rejection of Postal Ballots That Do Not Have RO Seal

Vijayawada: The Election Commission has issued guidelines to all election officers across districts, clarifying that Postal ballots should not be rejected even if they do not have the seal of the returning officer (RO).

Chief electoral officer Mukesh Kumar Meena forwarded the EC order to district electoral officers.

EC stated that if the postal ballot declaration is signed by the gazetted officer and has no seal, it will not be treated as invalid. Whether the voter cast his or her vote correctly on the ballot paper should be checked.

The CEO said the postal ballots bearing the signature of the RO are valid. Form 13A should be signed by the RO along with all the details. He instructed that the ballot including the signature of the RO should be compared with the validating register. He said Form 13A may be rejected if voter, RO signature and ballot serial number are missing.

The general elections were held on May 13 across AP with a poll percentage of 81.89. As many as 5,39,189 postal ballot votes were reported till the polling date, which is a record.

In Srikakulam district, the highest number of 38,865 postal ballot votes were polled while Nandyal district had 25,283 postal ballot votes and Kadapa district 24,918 votes. The lowest was 15,320 postal ballot votes cast in Narasapuram.

The postal ballot votes are likely to be crucial in AP elections in view of the fierce battle between the rival sides. Both YSRC and the TD-led alliance claim the postal votes were in their favour.