CHENNAI/TIRUPPUR/PUDUCHERRY: All arrangements have been made for the counting of votes for the Madurantakam and Dharapuram Assembly bypolls in TN, and Thattanchavady bye-election in Puducherry on Friday amid a three-tier security cover.
The counting will take place at the LRG Government Arts and Science College, Dharapuram, in Tiruppur district, the Integrated Social Development Training Centre at Aathur (in Chengalpattu district) for Madurantakam and the Motilal Nehru Government Polytechnic College campus, Lawspet, in Thattanchavady.
According to an official, a team of 2,614 state police personnel is working along with 480 Central Armed Police Forces personnel in Madurantakam while around 1,000 police personnel are covering the security arrangements for the constituency, supplemented by election monitoring staff and central forces in Dharapuram.
A senior official in charge of the election works in Madurantakam said a total of 21 rounds of counting will be conducted at 14 tables for the votes polled at the 285 polling stations. Counting will begin with the 893 postal ballots that have been received.
Manish Narnaware, district election officer overseeing Dharapuram, in a statement, said, “Postal ballots will be counted first. Counting of votes recorded in EVMs will commence at 8.30 am.” Vote counting is scheduled to begin at 8 am at all three centres.