The district administration has made arrangements to ensure the smooth conduct of counting of votes on May 19.
Similar to the Assembly polls of 2011, the counting of votes of all the 14 Assembly segments in the district will be conducted in a centralised manner.
The counting will be held on the Mar Ivanios Vidya Nagar campus at Nalanchira. The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), numbering 2,217, are currently kept at the strongroom on the premises under strict security by personnel of the Kerala Police and Central Armed Police Force.
According to Deputy Collector (Election) Sheeba George, counting of votes will commence at 8 a.m.
Postal ballots will be counted first. These will be counted at the tables of the Returning Officers.
Besides the tables of the Returning Officers, there will be 10 to 14 tables at each of the 14 counting centres.
Each table will have a counting supervisor, counting assistant and a micro-observer.
Besides them, counting agents and other officials entrusted to carry the EVMs to and from the counting tables will be allowed inside the halls.
The seals of the control units of each EVM will be broken in the presence of the counting agents.
In addition, two teams will be assigned with the task of relaying updates to the Election Commission as well as the Chief Electoral Officer at the end of each round.
A round will be over when all tables in a counting centre completed one turn.
Ms. George said that the VVPAT units, which were also kept at the strongroom, would be transferred to the State treasury for safe-keeping, to be used in cases of disputes on the poll process.
Training
The training for counting supervisors for the votes polled in the election will be held at the Collectorate conference hall in two batches – one at 9.30 a.m. and the next at 1.30 p.m. – on Wednesday. District Collector Biju Prabhakar said micro observers, counting assistants, counting supervisors, and other officials should bring along a passport-size photograph to the counter on the Mar Ivanios Vidya Nagar campus at Nalanchira at 5 a.m. on Thursday.
Counting of votes will commence at 8 a.m.; postal ballots will be counted first.
