PUDUCHERRY: The counting of votes for the 30 Assembly constituencies in all the four regions of Puducherry will be taken up in three phases on Sunday and completed by midnight.
According to a release from Chief Electoral Officer Shurbir Singh, six counting centres will conduct the counting in 31 halls from 8 am on Sunday.
There would be three counting centres in the Puducherry region covering 23 Assembly Constituencies, one Counting center at Karaikal covering five Assembly Constituencies, and one counting center each in Mahe and Yanam regions covering one Assembly Constituency in each region.
The Returning Officers will take up first the counting of postal ballots received in respect of the Assembly Constituency followed by counting of votes recorded in EVM in three halls at 8.30 AM. After completion of EVM counting, the mandatory counting of printed paper slips of five randomly selected VVPATs to cross verify with the EVM count will be taken up.
In the first batch, 12 Assembly Constituencies of Mannadipet, Mangalam, Kathikamam, Kamaraj Nagar, Lawspet, Oupalam, Nellithope, Embalam, Nedungadu, Karaikal North, Mahe, and Yanam would be taken up and the process is expected to be completed by 2.00 pm, said the CEO.
In the second batch 10 Assembly constituencies of Thirubhuvanai, Villianur, Indira Nagar, Muthialpet, Kalapet, Orleanpeth, Ariankuppam, Nettapakkam, Thirunallar, and Karaikal South would be taken up and is expected to be completed by 6.00 pm.
In the third batch, eight Assembly constituencies of Ossudu, Oulgaret, Thattanchavady, Raj Bhavan, Mudaliarpet, Manavely, Bahour, Neravy TR Pattinam would be taken up and the process is expected to be completed by 11.00 pm.
The seating arrangement in the counting hall has been made in such a way that between two counting agents, one agent will be in PPE kit. Additional AROs have been appointed for the counting of postal ballot papers.
The DEOs have been designated as Nodal Officers to ensure compliance of measures and take appropriate action. A dedicated medical team with an ambulance will be stationed at all the counting centers. Arrangements have been made to collect bio-medical waste generated in all the counting centers every four hours.
The local administration department will sanitize all the counting halls and counting centers on the pre-counting day and the post-counting day. All outer cases of EVM/VVPAT will be sanitized before bringing inside the counting ball.
RT-PCR or RAT Test or vaccination report is made mandatory for all officers, counting officials, candidates, and agents. A person without a negative test report will not be allowed inside the counting center. Thermal scanning will be done for all entering the counting centers and hall.
Anyone found having symptoms of cold, fever, etc., will not be allowed inside the counting center. Face masks, face shields, hand gloves, and hand sanitizers will be provided to all the stakeholders.
All victory processions of any kind have been prohibited, only two persons are allowed to accompany the winning candidate/authorized agent to receive the certificate from the Returning Officer.
Anybody violating the instructions on Covid-19 safety measures issued will be prosecuted under Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 besides action under Section 188 of the IPC and other provisions of the law as specified by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The results will be displayed in http://results.eci.gov.in and will be updated every few minutes to display the current round-wise trends and results of the Assembly Constituency. The trends and results of the Assembly Constituency will be accessible through the "voter helpline" mobile app which can be downloaded from Google Play store and Apple A Store.
The final result of each Assembly Constituency will be shared in Form 20, said the CEO.
In Puducherry UT, the main fight is between the Secular Democratic alliance led by Congress with DMK, CPI, VCI as allies and the National Democratic alliance comprising of AINRC, BJP and AIADMK. The exit polls have predicted a comprehensive win for the NDA.