EC mandates postal ballot count before last 2 EVM rounds

The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday announced a change in the counting procedure to ensure greater uniformity and transparency. According to the revised guidelines, the penultimate round of EVM/VVPAT counting will begin only after the counting of all postal ballots has been completed at counting centres.

The commission said, “Although counting of postal ballots is usually completed before counting of EVMs, in order to ensure uniformity and absolute clarity in the counting process, the commission has taken the aforementioned decision.”

EC sources informed that postal ballot counting will take place as usual at 8 am on the day of verdict, along with EVM counting. However, when only the last two rounds of EVM counting will be left, the process will be stopped and postal ballot counting will be completed.

“Once postal ballot paper counting is wrapped up, then the penultimate two rounds of EVMs will be counted. This will help in removing any kind of ambiguity or doubt regarding manipulation in the final outcome of the polls and bring greater clarity in the process,” sources said.

To prevent delays, the commission has directed Returning Officers (ROs) to ensure sufficient counting tables and adequate staff are in place in constituencies with large numbers of postal ballots.

The process of counting of votes has two major parts: Counting of postal ballots/Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballots (ETPBs); and counting through EVMs. On the day of counting, postal ballot counting starts at 8:00 am and EVM counting starts at 8:30 am.

As per the earlier instructions, EVM counting could theoretically go on irrespective of the stage of postal ballot counting and chances of it getting completed before the completion of postal ballot counting cannot be ruled out, the Election Commission said.

Thus, in view of the recent initiatives taken by the Commission for home voting for persons with disabilities and senior citizens (85+) also, the number of postal ballots has increased substantially.