Elaborate arrangements are being made for the counting of votes in the two Lok Sabha constituencies of Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal in the district on Thursday.
District Collector K. Vasuki, who is also the Returning Officer, told The Hindu that the counting would begin on the Mar Ivanios Vidya Nagar campus at 8 a.m. Extra arrangements had been put in place owing to the large number of postal ballots and counting of VVPAT slips this time around, she said.
Each Assembly segment in the district had been assigned one hall where the votes would be counted. These would be overseen by the assistant returning officer concerned.
The Collector would oversee the electronically transmitted postal ballot system (ETPBS) and the postal ballot system. Special arrangements, including an increase in the number of counting tables, had been made for counting the postal ballots and ETPBS, she said.
Only the candidates, their election or counting agents, election officials, counting supervisors and assistants and micro-observers would be allowed inside the counting halls. A media centre would also be arranged.
Fourteen tables would be arranged for each Assembly segment. Each candidate would be allowed to have one representative at each counting table. There would be one main counting agent along with the assistant returning officer in each counting hall.
Dr. Vasuki said no mobile phones would be allowed inside the counting halls.
Security system
A three-tier security system would be put in place for the counting process. The first ring would be at the campus entrance. The second ring of security would frisk the persons to ensure that no electronic gadgets are taken inside, and the third ring would be just outside the counting hall.
A 100-m radius from the counting hall would be a pedestrian zone with no vehicles allowed.
A public address system would be put up outside the security perimeter for the public to know the results.
The counting of voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips would be done after the counting of postal ballots and votes in the EVMs.
This would likely delay the declaration of results. Paper slips from five VVPATs selected randomly from each Assembly segment would be counted, she said.
