Election FAQs: What happens on counting day?

The results of the Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland 2023 Assembly elections will be declared on Thursday, March 2. While the Tripura elections took place on February 16, the Nagaland and Meghalaya elections were held on February 27. Before results are declared, let us take a look at what happens on the day of vote counting:

What happens to EVMs and VVPATs between the end of polling and counting?

After polling in each station, the presiding officer hits the 'close' button on the control units of the EVMs. Following this, EVMs and VVPATs are sealed and carried to district headquarters or sub-divisions under armed security. They are kept in a strong room, which is sealed off in the presence of candidates or their representatives and members of the election commission.

The rooms are under CCTV surveillance and candidates or their representatives can also keep a round-the-clock watch outside the room. Each strong room has one entry point which has a double lock with only the District Election Officer and Deputy District Election Officer having a key each for one lock. The EC also monitors the transportation and storage of the EVMs through the GPS-based 'EVM Monitoring System'.

What are VVPATs and how do they work?

VVPATs or Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails were introduced amid BJP's allegations during the UPA regime that EVMs can be tampered with. It keeps a paper audit trail of the votes cast and the machine from the EC prints a slip of the paper containing the name of the candidate a person votes for, along with the serial number and symbol of the party.

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It comes with a transparent window so the voter can see the printed slip for seven seconds. It is meant for the voter to verify that their vote has been registered accurately and has gone to their intended candidate. After the time is up the slip falls into the sealed ballot compartment in the machine.

The EC started off by matching paper and electronic votes on one EVM-VVPAT set per assembly segment, but opposition parties clamoured for the check to be carried out on 50 per cent of the machines. Now, after a Supreme Court order, the EC carries out this check on five machines in every assembly segment.

What happens on counting day?

On counting day, the EVMs are brought out of the strong room in presence of the returning officers and EC Special Observers along with candidates or their representatives. The entire process is filmed. The control units of the EVMs are then brought to counting tables under CCTV surveillance. The unique ID number of each CU and the signed seal are verified and shown to the polling agent of the candidates before they are taken out. After that, 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.

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The Returning Officer in the presence of the General Observer and party candidates or their representatives conducts a 'draw of lots' to randomly select a 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.

If there is a mismatch between the VVPAT and EVM numbers then paper 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. Some opposition parties have called for a count of all VVPAT machines in a constituency in case of such occurrences.