Bharat, World’s Second-Most Populated And Largest Democracy Demands High Degree Of Accuracy In Vote Counting
Paromita Das
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 4th June. There are thousands of voters in India’s historic seven-phase election, which is taking place in the world’s second-most populated nation and largest democracy. The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 have already concluded following 44 days of voting throughout the sizable country. There were over one million polling places where an estimated 969 million registered voters could cast their ballots between 19 April and 1 June. The long procedure, which involved enduring extremely high temperatures and traveling through difficult and distant areas, will come to an end today, on Tuesday, 4 June. Therefore, the process of counting votes is intricate and demands a high degree of accuracy.
Using electronic voting machines, the Election Commission of India (ECI) oversees the electoral process. Additionally, in a first for the general elections of 2024, the ECI has implemented a voting facility that allows voters who meet a 40% threshold and elderly citizens 85 years of age and older to cast postal ballots from the comfort of their homes.
In conformity with election laws, a methodical framework for the tabulation of votes has been established. The Election Commission has created a special manual for personnel involved in the vote-counting process based on these regulations.
The rules of counting votes
The Conduct of Elections (Amendment) Rules, 1992 inserted Rule 66A of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, as it relates to voting, stated in the guidebook provided by the Election Commission. According to Rule 66A, the same rules that apply to constituencies that use the conventional system of casting ballots and ballot boxes are also applicable to those that use Rule 66A. These rules cover matters such as the date, location, and selection and termination of counting agents, access to the counting venue, and protection of voting confidentiality. Furthermore, because the postal voting process is identical to that of electronic voting machines, they are covered by Rule 54A, which deals with the counting of paper ballots sent by mail.
Three new rules are introduced by Rule 66A: Rules 55C, 56C, and 57C. These regulations address the pre-count inspection and testing of voting machines, the actual vote counting procedure that is documented in the devices, and the sealing of the voting machines after the operation has been completed. Additionally, the handbook makes clear that, in order to remove any doubt or ambiguity, the aforementioned amendment rules stipulate that rules 60 to 66—which address continuous counting, restarting counting following a new poll, recounting votes, declaring election results, counting at multiple locations, and awarding certificates of election to victorious candidates—will also apply to voting by voting machines. Furthermore, all references to a “ballot paper” in those guidelines are to be understood as references to the voting machine.
Procedure for counting votes
As per the regulations, the Returning Officer bears the task of tallying the votes. To oversee each constituency, the ECI appoints an officer known as the Returning Officer after consulting with the state government. The vote counting for individual Assembly segments can be done independently by the Assistant Returning Officers of the Returning Officers if the latter has been given more than one Parliamentary or Assembly constituency.
The Returning Officer shall notify all contesting candidates or their Election Agent in writing of the date, time, and place of the vote counting, including any special arrangements for counting tables, at least one week prior to the polling day, in compliance with Rule 51 of the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961
The voters will be counted at Counting Centers, which may include one or more Counting Halls, in accordance with the ECI Handbook. These centers should ideally be found at the District headquarters, although in rare circumstances, they might be found at the Sub-Division headquarters.
The counting of all Assembly segments (ASs) within a Parliamentary constituency (PC) at one site is the preferred method for Lok Sabha elections. As an exception, Assembly segments may be tallied separately in cases when there are enormous areas, lengthy distances, challenging terrain, space constraints, or logistical difficulties. This is particularly true if the Parliamentary constituency includes numerous districts. A distinct identification number will be given to each counting center and counting hall.
Generally speaking, each counting hall should include seven to fourteen counting tables for the EVM’s Control Unit (CU) in addition to one extra table for counting ballots sent in by mail. The Chief Electoral Officer must specifically approve any departure from the prescribed number of tables, and the Commission must receive notice of this in writing in the report or recommendation. Furthermore, voting from a single Assembly segment or district at a time shall only take place in one of the designated halls.
A barricade made of wire mesh and blocks is positioned behind counting tables, behind which counting agents stand or sit. They need to have a clear view, but they are not allowed to physically examine the CU/VVPAT or postal ballots. Proper signage directs candidates, counting agents, media personnel, and counting staff.
The names and round numbers of the candidates are displayed on a sizable TV, whiteboard, or blackboard in each counting hall. The Returning Officer’s pronouncement comes first, followed by the written or visual results of the round after observer validation. After this, control units are only brought from the Strong Room for the subsequent round.
The counting agent’s eligibility
The ECI claims that there are no legal requirements for someone to be appointed as a counting agent. It is recommended that candidates designate individuals who are at least eighteen years old as their Counting Agents in order to guarantee appropriate representation throughout the vote-counting procedure.
As long as there are counting tables—including those for tallying postal ballots in a candidate’s district—they may nominate as many counting agents as there are tables. In addition, if the candidate or their election agent is not there, they may choose an additional counting agent to watch the counting procedure at the Returning Officer’s table. Both the candidates and their election agent may choose a counting agent; this can be done by utilizing Form 18, which is annexed to the 1961 Conduct of Elections Rules.
Method of Counting votes
The RO is required by the ECI standards to start the counting process at the appointed hour. The RO/ARO(s), the candidates and their election agents, and the observer should all be present when the polled EVM Strong Room is opened. Once the required entries have been made in the log book, the lock’s seal should be examined, demonstrated to the candidates and election agents, and then broken.
The entire process needs to be captured on camera and time-stamped with the date. It is required that all Control Units, Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs), and pertinent documents be continuously monitored by CCTV as they are moved from the strong room to the counting hall.
Everyone in the counting hall is required by law to protect and aid in protecting the vote’s confidentiality. They have to be careful not to divulge any information that would jeopardize this confidentiality.
Counting Agents and other personnel are not allowed to leave the Counting Center during the counting procedure. Usually, they won’t be permitted to leave until the official announcement of the results. When the voting in CUs and postal ballots is over, the RO may, however, allow counting agents who are not participating in watching the counting of VVPAT slips in VVPAT Counting Booths to exit the counting area.
Counting ballots received by mail
The first stage is to count the postal ballot papers at the RO’s table, as specified in Rule 54A of the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961. Only postal ballots that are received by the RO prior to the designated counting start time will be taken into account. The RO must provide the Observer with the most recent count of all the postal ballots that were received through the mail and from facilitation centers before the counting process begins.
Votes from Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) should be counted thirty minutes after the commencement of the postal ballot count. The following situations will result in the start of the EVM counting at the appointed time:
- If the constituency is devoid of postal ballots.
- In other Parliamentary constituency Assembly segments where postal ballots are not tallied.
The regulations of Rule 63 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, regulating recounting remain applicable, even if the use of voting machines usually eliminates the need for one because each recorded vote is legal.
When the Final Result Sheet in Form 20 is ready and the counting is finished, the RO has to declare how many votes each candidate received overall, as reported in Form 20. The RO should then take a brief break. The RO should find out how long it takes to file a formal request for a recount if any candidate wants one within this period, or if they are not present, their election agent or any counting agent does.
Before the result is announced, the RO must re-verify each rejected postal ballot paper if the margin of victory is less than the total number of ballots rejected as illegitimate throughout the counting process. When this kind of re-verification takes place, the entire thing needs to be captured on camera.
Results announcement
The RO then makes the official announcement of the election results after the counting and verification process is finished. The concerned Observer grants the RO permission before announcing the outcome. The candidate with the most valid votes is considered elected after completing and signing the Result Sheet in Form 20, getting the required clearance from the Commission, and receiving a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Observer. The RO must declare the outcome clearly and emphatically.
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