All arrangements in place in Kozhikode for counting of votes

Elaborate arrangements made for Lok Sabha election vote counting in Kozhikode district on June 4, with detailed procedures outlined.

Elaborate arrangements have been made in Kozhikode district for counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections on June 4.

Counting for Kozhikode and Vadakara Lok Sabha constituencies (including Thalasseri and Koothuparamba Assembly constituencies) will be held at JDT Islam Education complex at Vellimadukunnu, while that of the Thiruvambady Assembly constituency that comes under the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency will be held at St. Alphonsa Senior Secondary School at Thamarassery.

Counting will begin at 6.30 a.m. with postal votes (absentee votes). Home votes, services votes, and votes of those on election duty come under this category. They will be counted under the direct supervision of returning officers on 30 tables per Lok Sabha constituency at the rate of 500 votes per table. There are around 14,000 postal votes in the Kozhikode constituency, while there are around 15,000 in the Vadakara constituency.

Service votes will be first counted after verifying the barcodes in each voting slip. Each table will have a designated assistant returning officer besides a counting supervisor, two counting assistants, a micro observer, and agents of candidates.

The counting of EVM votes will begin at around 8.30 a.m. for which separate halls have been set apart. There are 14 counting halls on the JDT campus. Each hall will have 14 tables with one supervisor, a counting assistant, a micro observer, and a group-D employee, besides agents of candidates.

Once the counting is completed in all the 14 tables, one of the tables will be used to count the VVPAT (voter-verified paper audit trail) machines. Table 17-c prepared by the presiding officer in each polling booth will be verified with the number of votes polled. Counting will be done in several rounds, 14 polling stations at a time. The leads will be announced at the end of every round.

The security of the counting centre will be at three levels. The State Police will create a circle in 100-metre radius of the centre, while the State Armed Police will guard the inner gate. The strong room and the entrance to the counting hall are manned by the Central Reserve Police Force.