All set for counting in Mohali district: DEO

Mohali, June 3

To complete the final process of counting the General Election, all arrangements are in place to carry out the process in a smooth and transparent manner at the Government Polytechnic at Khuni Majra.

The District Election Officer reviewed the arrangements with officials deputed for the preparation of counting. She said proper sitting arrangements should be made for the teams, agents of the candidates, and anyone else that is part of the counting process.

The DEO said the counting for the 278 polling booths in Kharar and the 251 booths in SAS Nagar would be conducted at the Government Polytechnic at Khuni Majra. She said a total of 14 counting tables have been set up for each constituency, where a lot of 14 EVMs would be displayed to show the count of votes for the candidates.

She said 19 teams against each counting hall, including five reserved teams, have been deputed. The DEO said the teams have been asked to report at 5 am to their AROs to assign them the number of tables to be completed by 6 am.

DEO Jain said the counting would be monitored by the counting supervisor as a representative of the Election Commission to maintain transparency and efficiency in the process. She said he would recheck the results of any two EVMs randomly after each round of counting. She added that, apart from that reconciliation of the number of voting slips of five VVPATs that would be selected by drawing lots in the end would also be done with the result of those particular EVMs. The DEO said tomorrow would be a dry day across the district. She said people would only be allowed inside the counting halls if they were issued an authority letter.

DEO Jain said mobile phones or other electronic devices would not be allowed in the counting hall, and mediapersons may deposit their phones with the media centre to enter the counting halls with their handheld cameras. She said no one would be allowed to record the display of results on an EVM through any recording device, including a still camera.

19 counting teams formed

DEO Aashika Jain said each constituency has been allocated with 19, including 5 reserved against the 14 counting tables. The counting for Kharar and SAS Nagar segments would be carried out at the Government Polytechnic at Khuni Majra and for Dera Bassi at Punjabi University, Patiala. The DEO said the training for the counting process has been imparted to the counting personnel, adding that the counting would start at 8 am.