Over 50,000 officials have been deployed for counting of votes on Thursday in the five states where assembly elections were held recently. Counting of votes will begin at 8 am in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab following the COVID-19 guidelines. Assembly elections in these five states were held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.
Around 1,200 counting halls have been set up where electronic voting machines (EVMs) will record results. Uttar Pradesh, which has maximum 403 assembly constituencies, will have over 750 counting halls, followed by Punjab with over 200 counting halls.
Over 650 counting observers have been deployed across five states to oversee the process. In view of the pandemic, the Election Commission had issued separate guidelines for the counting day.
According to the guidelines of the poll panel, the counting centers will have to be disinfected before and after the counting process. To ensure distancing norms, the counting halls should be sufficiently large with proper ventilation, windows and exhaust fans.
Despite being fully vaccinated, if anyone has symptoms of COVID like fever or cold, he/she will not be allowed inside the counting hall. Masks, sanitisers, face shields and hand gloves will be provided to each counting officer and security personnel.
Not more than seven counting tables will be set up in the counting hall, the poll panel had said while announcing the election schedule on January 8.
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