The counting of votes for the two Parliament and 15 Assembly constituencies of Hyderabad district would be taken up at 15 different locations from 8 a.m. on May 16.
The District Election Officer (DEO) and GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar said that required arrangements in terms of infrastructure and training of counting personnel was being taken up to ensure that the exercise was conducted smoothly.
“We will be conducting about three rounds of training for counting personnel this week and the arrangements are being put in place from Monday,” he said. Each of the counting table would have four personnel including a micro-observer drawn from central government services, a counting supervisor and counting assistant from state cadre apart from a helper to carry the boxes.
900 personnel identified for trainingAround 900 personnel were identified for training to carry out the counting while another 400 would be deployed for assistance and logistical support.
As per the guidelines in vogue, seven tables each are allowed for Assembly and Parliament constituency but the district election office has sought permission from the election authorities for additional tables to hasten up the counting process.
Counting starts at 8 a.m.Mr. Somesh Kumar said most constituencies have more than 200 polling stations and some comprised about 250 polling stations and thus counting would run into 36 to 37 rounds for them.
The counting starts at 8 a.m. and each round could take about 20 minutes. The initial rounds would be slow and with so many rounds, the entire exercise could spill over to 12 hours to 13 hours, he pointed out.
“Our intention is to complete it in a maximum of six to seven hours and hence we sought permission from the ECI and CEO for additional counting tables and are expecting a clearance in next couple of days,” he said.
