The counting of the votes for the General Elections 2024, which concluded on June 1, will begin on the morning of June 4. The election was conducted in 7 phases for the 543 constituencies of the Lok Sabha.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) uses Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to conduct elections. Since 2000, the ECI has conducted 113 assemblies and three general elections using EVMs.
Who counts the votes?
The Returning Officer (RO) is responsible for overseeing elections in a constituency and tallying votes. The RO is an official of the government or a local authority appointed by the ECI for each constituency in consultation with the state government.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu assessed the preparations for counting day with all Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) and Returning Officers (RO).
The election commission has also released a handbook for Returning Officers and Counting agents, which is available on the ECI website. The comprehensive instructions from the Commission for counting arrangements, tallying votes, and storing EVMs/VVPATs are already available on the ECI website.
Where are the votes counted?
The Returning Officer (RO) is responsible for determining the location where the votes will be counted for the parliamentary constituency. The Election Commission of India (ECI) sets the date and time for the counting process. Ideally, the votes for a constituency should be counted in one place, preferably at the RO's headquarters in that constituency, under their direct supervision.
However, since each Parliamentary Constituency consists of multiple assembly segments, the counting process may occur at different locations for various assembly segments under the direct supervision of an Assistant Returning Officer (ARO).
The votes for each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency are counted in a single hall. During each round of counting, the votes from 14 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are tallied.
What is the counting process?
Counting supervisors appointed by the RO oversee the process. To ensure fairness, counting staff are selected through a three-stage randomization process. Candidates, their counting agents, and election agents are also present in the counting hall.
Counting votes begins with Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballots (ETPB) and Postal Ballots (PB), which are counted under the direct supervision of the RO. The counting of EVMs can start 30 minutes after the commencement of PB counting, even if all PBs have not been counted. After each round of counting, the results from 14 EVMs are declared.
What is the process for counting VVPAT slips?
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has laid down a process for randomly selecting one Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) for each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency for Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) matching.
VVPAT paper slips are verified inside a secured VVPAT Counting Booth in the counting hall, with access limited to authorized personnel only. After completing EVM vote counting, any counting table in the hall can be converted into a VVPAT Counting Booth. Parliamentary constituencies typically have between five and ten assembly segments.
The Supreme Court has ruled that VVPAT slips from five randomly selected polling stations for each assembly segment shall be matched with the results shown in the respective EVMs. This means that VVPAT paper slips must be matched for each parliamentary constituency, involving approximately 25-50 machines.
This process requires the personal supervision of the Returning Officer (RO) or Assistant Returning Officer (ARO). The ECI has decided that five VVPATs will be counted sequentially. The RO can declare the final result for the constituency only after the VVPAT matching process has been completed.
What happens if there is a discrepancy between the VVPAT count and the EVM results?
The final count is based on the printed paper slips. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has not clarified if any additional steps, such as counting all VVPATs in a constituency or assembly segment, will be taken if there is a discrepancy in the counts of one of the five VVPATs.
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