Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Mukesh Kumar Meena stated that the announcement of the final results for the simultaneous elections held in Andhra Pradesh for the Legislative Assembly and the Lok Sabha will begin after 1 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4.
Addressing a press conference on June 3 (Monday) at the Secretariat, Mr. Meena said that the process for the counting of votes polled would begin at 8 a.m. at 401 counting halls set up at 33 places across the State.
For the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies, 2,443 tables were arranged for the counting of EVM votes and 443 tables for postal ballots, and for the 175 Assembly constituencies, 2,446 tables for EVM votes and 557 for postal ballots were set up.
The electors cast their votes at 46,389 polling stations across Andhra Pradesh on May 13, registering the highest ever polling percentage of 81.86 in the State.
Each round of counting of EVM votes would take an average of 22 minutes, and the result of the first round would come after 30 minutes. The counting time for the subsequent rounds would reduce gradually, once the counting staff and election agents of political parties get familiar with the procedure, Mr. Meena said.
There would be a maximum of 27 rounds for the Amalapuram Parliamentary constituency, which was expected to take nine to 10 hours for completion, while the lowest of 13 rounds would be needed for the Rajahmundry and Narasapuram Parliamentary constituencies with a duration of five hours each.
In the Assembly constituencies, the highest of 26 rounds would be witnessed in Bhimili and Panyam requiring nine to 10 hours, and the lowest of 13 rounds in Kovvur and Narasapuram which was expected to take five hours each.
There were 111 Assembly constituencies which would require less than 20 rounds of EVM vote counting, and 61 that need between 21 and 24 rounds while three constituencies would see more than 25 rounds. In the case of postal ballot vote counting, 102 Assembly constituencies would have two rounds, 48 need three rounds and 25 would witness four rounds.
The entire process in the counting halls would be conducted under 360-degree CCTV coverage or videography and mobile phones would not be allowed inside. There would be a total ban on sale of liquor in the State.
Security Arrangements
As many as 45,000 police personnel and an additional 67 companies (around 6,500 Central Armed Forces) would be deployed across the State on the day of counting. A total of 1,985 sensitive locations were identified, where police pickets were arranged.
Cordon and Search Operations (CASO) were conducted at 1,200 locations, resulting in the seizure of 4,595 vehicles, 1,260 litres of liquor and registering of 154 cases since polling. More than 12,600 persons had been bound over under Cr.P.C.
Eighty-three Assembly constituencies were identified as sensitive, where senior officers from DSP to ADGP rank were being posted to supervise security arrangements and prevent any violence, the CEO said.
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