All eyes are on results of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections 2022 today. The counting, which is currently underway, began with the postal ballot at 8 am followed by EVM counting at 8:30 am.
About 76.44 per cent of voters had exercised their franchise in the assembly polls held on November 12 in Himachal Pradesh. Gujarat witnessed 63.31 percent polling in the first phase of elections on December 1, while a moderate voter turnout of 60.94 per cent was recorded in the second and final phase on December 5.
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Here’s an elaborate breakdown of the process of counting votes and how the results are announced:
Who is responsible for counting the votes?
The Returning Officer (RO) is responsible for conducting elections in a constituency as well as counting of votes. While the RO doesn’t personally count each vote, but crosscheck the counting at several stages and declares the results. They are joined by Assistant Returning Officers and an additional officer of central government or central PSU, who works as a micro observer, to avoid any kind of possible influence by state machinery.
Where does the counting take place?
The RO zeroes in on the location where the counting of votes for a particular constituency takes place. In Gujarat, 37 counting centres have been set up covering 182 assembly seats. While 68 counting halls have been set up at 59 places in Himachal Pradesh.
What is the counting process?
The first step in the process is the counting of postal ballot papers. According to election commission, a total number of postal ballots received on election duty in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections were 1,12,834. A restricted set of voters including members of the armed forces, armed police force of a state (serving outside the state) and government employees posted outside India can exercise postal voting. Through this, a voter can cast their vote remotely by recording their choice on an official ballot paper.
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) counting starts once the counting of ballot papers is over. A micro observer, counting supervisor and counting assistant are deployed at each counting table. The entire counting process is video-graphed. At the end of each round of counting, the results from the tallying of votes from the 14 EVMs are announced. Mobile phone, iPad, laptop, and other recording devices are banned at the counting centres.
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