THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Around 60.97% of the postal and service votes allotted in the state were cast through Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) till Wednesday evening. There are around 1,16,816 postal and service votes in the state to be cast through ETPBS system, which enables a service voter to exercise his franchise using an electronically received postal ballot from anywhere outside their constituency.
Out of the 53,229 service votes allowed for the Army personnel from the state, 32,199 votes were cast till Wednesday evening. Similarly, of the 63,517 postal ballots allotted for the police personnel and government staff in the state, 39,025 votes were cast till Wednesday evening. The counting of ballots received through the ETPBS system will begin only after scanning the QR code of the ballots, which is mandatory.
The counting of ETPBS votes consumes more time and it has been intimated to the representatives of all the political parties in the state, said CEO Teeka Ram Meena. If the winning majority of one constituency is below the total number of rejected postal or service votes in the constituency, the rejected votes will be subjected to recounting. A direction in this regard has been issued to the returning officers of each constituency and the recounting will be shot on video, he said.