EC revises postal ballot counting rules for more transparency

The Election Commission has revised the counting process to ensure greater transparency. From now, the last round of EVM counting will begin only after postal ballots are fully counted, with the new practice starting in Bihar’s upcoming Assembly poll

New Delhi: Seeking to bring in more transparency, the Election Commission has streamlined the process of counting of postal ballots in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls .

Till now, on the day of counting, postal ballot counting starts at 8 am, and EVM counting at 8:30 am. According to the earlier instructions, EVM counting could theoretically go on irrespective of the stage of postal ballot counting, and chances of it getting completed before the completion of postal ballot counting cannot be ruled out.

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Although counting of postal ballots generally gets completed before the counting of EVMs, to ensure uniformity and utmost clarity in the counting process, the Election Commission has now decided that the penultimate (second last) round of EVM counting will be taken up only after the counting of postal ballots is completed at the counting centre where postal ballot counting is being done.

The new practice will be first implemented in Bihar, where Assembly polls are due in November. The Commission also directed that in cases where there are a large number of postal ballots, the returning officers are to ensure that a sufficient number of tables and counting staff are in place so that there is no delay and the counting process is further streamlined.

In view of the recent initiatives taken by the Commission for home voting for persons with disabilities and senior citizens above 85 years, the number of postal ballots has increased substantially.