The three-tier security arrangement put in place at strongrooms where EVMs and VVPATs are stored will be maintained till the counting and election process is over, G. Prakash, Chennai Corporation Commissioner and Chennai District Election Officer said.
Speaking to the media after the Election Commission’s training and orientation programme for officials on the counting procedures on Wednesday, Mr. Prakash said: “The strongrooms where the EVMs and VVPATs are stored have three-tier security — outer, centre and inner cordons. The Inner Cordon is specifically for the VVPATs and EVMs. This is under round-the-clock monitoring directly by the CRPF.
In addition, our top officers in the Police Department also monitor this,” he said. The security will continue to be present till the election process is over, he added.
Model centre
Participants at the training programme, including Umesh Sinha, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, Dr. Sandeep Saxena, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, visited the model counting centre set up at Anna University.
“The model counting centre has been set up in the Velachery segment, in the Chennai South constituency. It basically shows how a counting centre should be, with adequate amenities for the counting staff and agents of political parties and other necessities. Agents of the parties should be able to see the counting process in a transparent manner. Although all centres will have these facilities, we have worked on enhancing this one as a model centre,” he said.
Counting process
He said the VVPAT counting process would be done through a draw of lots and five VVPAT machines from each Assembly constituency would be counted.
Nikhil Kumar, Director, Election Commission, Dilip Sharma, Director General, EC, Satyabrata Sahoo, Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, Teeka Ram Meena, CEO, Kerala, and district election officers, returning officers and other officers from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep participated in the training programme.
