New Delhi: Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner of India, addresses a press conference in New Delhi, Monday, June 3, 2024. (Photo: PTI)
Citing implementation of election rules, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday said counting of postal ballots at all counting centers will begin first and asserted that there was “no doubt in the matter”.
Responding to questions at a press conference here, he said that half an hour after the start of counting of postal votes, counting of votes in the electronic voting machines will begin.
A delegation from the opposition parties had met the Commission on Sunday to demand that the counting of postal votes should begin first and the results of postal votes should be declared first.
“The rules clearly state (Rule 54A) that the counting of postal votes will begin first. It will start first at all centers in the country, there is no doubt about that. After half an hour we start counting the EVM. So there are three counts happening at the same time – it happened in the 2019 election, it happened in all elections held afterward. It also happened yesterday in the case of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim Assembly (number of votes). We cannot change anything halfway. We cannot change because it is in accordance with the rules,” he said.
He said the counting of postal ballots, then counting of EVM and finally the march of VVPT slips with EVM results will continue.
In most polling booths, the number of mail-in ballots is smaller. It automatically finishes first, he pointed out.
Since 2019, the VVPAT (paper-trail machine) slips from five randomly selected polling stations per constituency (or segment in the case of Lok Sabha seats) are matched with the EVM count for greater transparency.
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First print: June 3, 2024 | 7:18 PM IST