Padampur Bypoll In Odisha: Counting Of Votes Begins Amid Tight Security

Bargarh: The counting of votes for the by-election to Padampur Assembly constituency in Odisha’s Bargarh district began at the RMC Ward in Padampur at 8 am on Thursday. It will decide the fate of 10 candidates including BJP’s Pradip Purohit, BJD’s Barsha Singh Bariha, and Congress’s Satya Bhusan Sahu.

According to sources, postal ballots will be counted in the first round, and votes polled in 319 booths will be counted at 14 tables in each round. There will be around 23 rounds of counting.

Each table will have three persons, one counting supervisor, one counting assistant, and the Central observer, appointed by the Election Commission of India (ECI), who will remain present throughout the counting, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sushil Kumar Lohani said.

After the completion of EVM counting, VVPAT slips of five booths selected randomly will be taken up for counting to cross-verify the EVM figures.

Also Read: Record Polling In Odisha’s Padampur Bypoll; Check Final Voter Turnout

The vote counting will be done under the supervision of the returning officer (RO) who will be assisted by one ARO. The general observer appointed by the ECI will also remain present throughout to keep a check on the counting process, said Lohani. Two technical persons will also be present at the counting centre to assist in case of any glitches.

Notably, each candidate can appoint one agent for each table and one for counting agents for the RO table for counting postal ballots. The candidate or his/her election agent can remain present in the counting hall.

Except for the returning officer and general observer, no one will be allowed to carry mobile phones inside the counting hall.

Besides, extensive security arrangements have been made for the dissemination of round-wise results. In order to prevent any disturbance or untoward incident during the counting, a 3-layer security will be in place.

The results will be announced at the venue. Besides, they will also be available to the general public on the ECI portal.

Also Read: Odisha Bypoll: Naveen Holds Important Meeting Before Padampur Results As BJD Gears Up For 2024