Representative image of vote counting.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Jharkhand will go to polls next month. Phase 1 is set for November 13 and phase for November 20, with the results to be declared on November 23. The upcoming assembly elections that will see BJP face off the incumbent Hemant Soren-led, with Congress playing second fiddle under the I.N.D.I.A. bloc
With that in mind, here's a look at what happens on the counting day.
What happens on counting day?
On counting day, in the presence of the Election Commission (EC) Special Observers and returning officers along with candidates or their representatives, the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are brought out of the strong room. The whole process is filmed.
Under CCTV surveillance, the EVMs' control units are then brought to counting tables. Before being taken out, each CU's unique ID number and signed seal is verified and shown to the polling agent of the candidates.
Then, a button on the unit is pressed and it displays the vote each candidate secured, next to their names, on the EVM. These numbers get recorded in the results sheet.
In the presence of the General Observer and party candidates or their representatives, the Returning Officer then conducts a 'draw of lots' to randomly select a Voter-verified paper audit trail(VVPAT) machine for counting paper slips.
The counting takes place inside a secure VVPAT counting booth which has a camera inside the counting hall and only occurs after the last round of counting EVM votes in a constituency.
The VVPAT and EVM numbers do not match, the slips are recounted. If the discrepancy persists, the VVPAT number takes precedence over the EVM numbers and result sheets are amended to reflect the same. Opposition parties can call for a count of all VVPAT machines in a constituency in case of such occurrences.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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