Counting of Udupi-Chikkamagaluru LS constituency votes at St. Cecily’s School in Udupi

The counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency will be held at St. Cecilys School in Udupi on June 4, according Udupi Deputy Commissioner K. Vidyakumari. The counting will begin at 8 a.m.

The counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru constituency will be held at St. Cecilys School in Udupi on June 4, according Udupi Deputy Commissioner K. Vidyakumari. The counting will begin at 8 a.m.

Talking to reporters in Udupi on Thursday, she said that the counting of the total 12,31,005 votes cast will be held Assembly constituency wise. While two counting rooms each has been allotted for Kundapur, Karkala, Sringeri and Tarikere Assembly constituencies, one room each has been allocated for Udupi, Kaup, Mudigere, and Chikkamagaluru Assembly constituencies.

Each of the two counting rooms will have seven tables, and one counting room will have 14 tables. Counting of votes in the EVM machines will be overseen by the District Election Officer, eight Assistant Election Officers, and four Additional Assistant Election Officers.

The postal votes will be counted in a separate room, while the service votes will be counted on a separate table. Allocation of tables for the counting personnel will be done randomnly. A candidate can appoint an agent for each table, she said.

As per the directions of the Election Commission, a control room, for lodging complaints and getting information related to counting, will start functioning at the office of Deputy Commissioner from June 1. The result will be declared only after completion of counting of postal votes and votes recorded in EVM, and after getting approval of the Counting Observer, Hitesh Koya. The winning candidate will receive certificate only after getting approval of the Election Commission, she said.

After the completion of counting, the EVMs related to Udupi and Chikkamagaluru districts will be kept in the respective district strong rooms for 45 days of election dispute period.

There will be a three-layer security at the counting centre. The 100-metre radius of the counting centre will be a pedestrian zone and there will be no movement of vehicles in this zone. CCTV cameras have been installed in the counting halls and other areas of the counting centre. There will be a ban on the victory celebrations and use of fire crackers across Udupi district from 5 a.m. to the midnight of June 4, the Deputy Commissioner said.