NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced its 30th major initiative to streamline and increase transparency in the country’s electoral process by introducing a new time slot for counting postal ballots, officials said on Thursday.
Directives have been issued to Returning Officers (ROs) to complete the counting of postal ballots before the penultimate (second-last) round of counting Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) votes.
This move comes amid a significant rise in postal ballots, following recent ECI initiatives to enable home voting for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and senior citizens aged 85 and above.
The officials explained that the measure aims to ensure uniformity, reduce delays, and enhance transparency during the counting process. “Returning Officers are also instructed to deploy adequate counting tables and staff, particularly in constituencies with a high number of postal ballots, to avoid any delay,” a senior ECI official said.
As per current norms, postal ballot counting starts at 8:00 am on counting day, followed by EVM counting at 8:30 am. “Although postal ballot counting is usually completed before EVM counting, this new directive formally integrates the processes to avoid discrepancies and ensure clarity,” the official added.
This initiative is the latest in a series of electoral reforms introduced by the ECI to strengthen India’s electoral system. Over the past six months, the Commission has implemented 29 key measures.
Meanwhile, the poll panel has recently launched a new e-sign feature on its ECINET portal and app, requiring those seeking to register as voters or applying for deletions and corrections to verify their identity using Aadhaar-linked phone numbers. The official said this feature was introduced in the second week of this month.
ECINET is a one-stop platform integrating over 40 mobile applications under the ECI. It was launched during the by-elections for five Assembly constituencies in Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab, and West Bengal on 19 June.
Prior to ECINET, applicants had to submit Forms 6, 7, and 8 (for additions, deletions, and corrections respectively) via the Election Commission’s apps and portal by linking a phone number with an existing Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number, without verifying if the details belonged to the specific voter.
“But now, after filling the form, applicants are redirected to an external portal hosted by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), where they must enter their Aadhaar number and generate an Aadhaar OTP. The OTP is sent to the phone number linked to that Aadhaar number. The applicant must consent to Aadhaar-based authentication and complete verification before being redirected back to the ECINET portal to submit the form,” the official explained.