Preparations are underway in full swing ahead of the counting of votes for General Elections to the 18th Lok Sabha in respect of two Parliamentary Constituencies of Manipur, scheduled to be held on Tuesday, in line with necessary arrangements as prescribed by the Election Commission.
A release issued by Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Pradeep Kumar Jha, on Saturday briefed on the arrangements stating that a three-layer security cordon will be enforced at all counting centres on counting day and entry of unauthorised persons will be restricted. However, authorised media persons with valid Pass and counting agents will be allowed access to the counting centres, the CEO stated.
It notified that the counting of votes will be taken up at 24 counting centres in 11 district headquarters of Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Chandel, Ukhrul, Senapati, Kangpokpi, Tamenglong, Churachandpur and Jiribam in a total of 50 counting halls.
It said that five counting halls have been earmarked for counting of Postal Ballots and ETPBS at the headquarters of the two Returning Officers of 1-Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency and 2-Outer Manipur (ST) Parliamentary Constituency and added that the remaining 45 halls will be used for counting of EVMs and VVPATs.
The statement also informed that 25 Counting Observers have been appointed by Election Commission of India and will be arriving before the date fixed for counting. It also said that one ECIL engineer for each counting hall has been assigned where EVM counting will be done.
It notified that the counting will commence at 8 am at the counting halls and further informed all authorized counting agents of candidates to reach the counting centres well in time to participate in the opening of strong rooms as notified by the respective Returning Officer/Assistant Returning Officer.
It also mentioned that training of the Returning Officers, Assistant Returning Officers, Counting Officials including the Micro Observers have been completed. The counting process in the counting halls will be under CCTV/videography coverage and each round of counting will be updated through ENCORE application, which will be available for public access through Voter Turnout Mobile Application and results.eci.gov.in., the release added.
Mention may be made that Manipur went into polls for the 18th Lok Sabha Elections in two phases, with the first phase 1-Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency elections held on April 19 and the second phase 2-Outer Manipur (ST) Parliamentary Constituency elections held on April 29. A total of 10 candidates, six in Inner and four in Outer Manipur contested in the elections.
