Stage set for vote counting in Maharashtra

Mumbai, Nov 22 The state election machinery is all set for a smooth and peaceful counting of votes in 288 Assembly constituencies across Maharashtra to be held on Saturday.

Buoyed by a record 66 per cent polling against 61.1 per cent in the 2019 Assembly elections, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that the counting of votes will start at 8 a.m. at all polling stations. During this process, the counting of postal ballots will begin at 8 a.m., followed by the counting of votes on EVMs at 8:30 a.m.

MahaYuti comprising BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP and Maha Vikas Aghadi consisting of Congress, Shiv Sena UBT and NCP-SP are engaged in a fierce fight for supremacy.

In addition, the Vachit Bahujan Aghadi, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Maharashtra Swarajya Paksha and other smaller parties have also fielded their nominees making it a multi-party contest. There are a total of 4,136 candidates comprising 3,771 men, 363 women and two others in the fray.

In all, 288 counting centres have been set up for 288 Assembly constituencies and one counting centre for Nanded Lok Sabha constituency. Further, 288 counting inspectors have been appointed for 288 Assembly constituencies and two counting inspectors for the Nanded Lok Sabha constituency. The number of postal ballots is high in all Assembly constituencies, hence, 1732 tables for postal ballot counting and 592 tables for ETPBS scanning (pre-counting) have been set up at 288 polling stations.

As far as Mumbai is concerned, 36 counting centres are designated for 36 constituencies. Over 2,700 polling personnel and 10,000 police personnel have been deployed for the counting process in Mumbai.

‘’The Election Commission has approved the proposal of counting centres and all District Election Officers/Election Returning Officers have given wide publicity in this regard. The contesting candidates/political parties have been informed in writing about the locations of counting centres. The sealed strong rooms will be opened in front of the observers and the candidates present or their representatives and the EVMs will be taken to the counting centre. A three-tier security arrangement has been implemented as per the guidelines of the Election Commission,’’ said the state's additional CEO Dr Kiran Kulkarni.

An online system was developed for quick transfer of Form 12 and 12-D with the help of NIC to facilitate the process in the current elections. Coordinating centres were set up at the district, divisional, and state levels for the exchange of blank postal ballot papers for approved forms as well as for the exchange of voted ballot papers. More than 68,000 senior citizens aged 85+ and more than 12,000 persons with disabilities benefited from home voting. More than 36,000 essential service voters voted through postal ballots and 4,66,823 postal ballots were distributed to election staff.

To ensure transparency in the counting process, information has been presented to the media continuously and important statistics and developments have been disseminated online and through traditional media.

Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in