Rajasthan assembly election: 4,180 rounds of counting to be held at 36 centres

Around 4,180 rounds counting of the EVMs will take place at 36 counting centres across the 199 constituencies of Rajasthan, said the state chief election officer Praveen Gupta on Saturday. Polling in Rajasthan was held on November 25 at 199 out of 200 assembly constituencies (Representative Photo) Polling in Rajasthan was held on November 25 at 199 out of 200 assembly constituencies in the state as voting for the Karanpur seat was postponed following the death of the incumbent legislator and the Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar on November 15. Stay tuned with breaking news on HT Channel on Facebook. Join Now The majority mark in the state is 100 and the counting of votes is scheduled for Sunday (December 3). The state has around 52 million electoral population of whom 74.62% voted through the EVMs on November 25 while around 0.8% voters polled their political choices through home-voting and postal ballots. Gupta said, “The counting process will begin at 8am on Sunday with the postal ballots. The first round of the counting of EVM votes will start at 8.30am. While Barmer’s Sheo constituency will have the highest number– 34 rounds of counting, the lowest – 14 rounds will take place in the Ajmer South (SC) constituency.” The CEO added that only nine constituencies have more than 25 rounds of counting on Sunday. To ensure a fair process of election, he said, “The counting will take place at the drict headquarters of 33 dricts. However, Jaipur and Nagaur will have three more centres, taking the total number of counting centres to 36 in the state.” He said that these centres, having 2,552 counting tables, will have around 199 observers, 1,131 assant returning officers (ARO), and 200 returning officers (RO). After every round the observers and the AROs will check the machine and send the final data to the ROs, said Gupta. The chief election commissioner said that the staff for the counting of votes were appointed from different states selected the Election Commission. “They will also be randomised tomorrow at 5am, three hours before the counting, for the allotment of the counting tables and team. We have ensured everything to make the process a fair one. The counting will also be processed under CCTV surveillance and webcasting,” said Gupta. Meanwhile, around 175 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC), along with local police teams, have already been deployed at the counting centres to ensure the security and peace of the areas during counting, said the CEO. The Rajasthan polls would likely witness a direct contest between the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. While exit polls have predicted a victory for Congress in Rajasthan, according to the BJP BJP leaders, they are confident that their party will form the government in the state with over 135 seats.