Amaravati, Nov 6 — Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for the counting of votes polled in MPTC and ZPTC elections on Saturday.
The counting will begin from 8 a.m. at 365 counting centres across the state. The State Election Commission has arranged 9,062 counting tables.
State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said that about 11,002 counting supervisors and 28,692 counting assistants/staff have been deployed for counting activity.
The State Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for the counting process. CCTV cameras have been arranged at all the counting centres with adequate bandobust arrangements for smooth and orderly counting.
About 19,885 police personnel have been deployed for three-layer security.
CCTV cameras, drones and body-worn cameras will be used in sensitive areas for strict surveillance.
Initially, the postal ballot papers are to be counted and thereafter the counting of ballot papers polled in the ballot boxes at the polling stations will be taken up for counting.
In the initial counting process, pink-coloured (MPTC ballot paper) and white-coloured (ZPTC ballot paper) will be separated from each ballot box. They are made into bundles of 25 each with their vertical fold intact. The bundles will be placed in a drum arranged for thorough mixing. There will be separate drums for MPTC and ZPTC segments.
The polling for 577 ZPTCs and 7,707 MPTCs was held on Thursday. According to the SEC, the final percentage of the poll was 70.72 per cent. This is 9.81 per cent higher than the polling recorded in the previous elections held in 2021.
Candidates for 77 ZPTCs and 2,051 MPTCs were elected unanimously since there was only one candidate remaining in the contest in those places after the deadline for withdrawal of candidatures.
Due to the ‘Murasu’ cyclone, polling in Gopalapuram mandal in East Godavari district and Buttayagudem, Jeelugumilli, Polavaram and Velairpadu mandals in Eluru district was conducted on Friday.
The Collectors of Ananthapur, Kurnool, Srikakulam, Markapuram and Palnadu had also requested fresh polls in seven polling stations as there were incidents of Booth capturing, damage to the ballot box, etc. Accordingly, the Commission ordered a fresh election in these seven polling stations on Friday.