Kerala Poll Turnout Rises To 79.70% After Inclusion Of Service Voters’ Postal Ballots: CEO

Thiruvananthapuram, May 3 (PTI) Kerala’s voter turnout in the April 9 Assembly elections has tentatively risen to 79.70 per cent after the inclusion of service voters’ postal ballots, CEO Rathan U Kelkar said on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference here, Kelkar also outlined elaborate arrangements for the counting of votes scheduled for Monday.

He said the polling percentage for the Assembly election was 79.63 per cent, excluding postal ballots of service voters.

The chief electoral officer said 53,984 postal ballots had been issued to service voters, of which 20,028 had been received as of May 1.

“Service voters can submit postal ballots till before counting begins. We have directed the postal department that postal ballots received from service voters, including on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, should be handed over to the returning officers without delay,” he said.

He said the receipt of service voters’ postal ballots had increased the polling percentage by 0.07 percentage points.

“The present voting percentage, after including service voters’ inputs, stands at 79.70 per cent on a tentative basis,” he said.

Kelkar said the final turnout figure would be announced only after the Election Commission of India releases its official index card, usually 48 hours after counting.

Counting of votes in all 140 Assembly constituencies will begin at 8 am across 43 locations in the state, he said.

As per Election Commission guidelines, postal ballots will be counted first, followed by the counting of EVM votes after a gap of 30 minutes.

Round-wise counting data will be uploaded in real time on the Election Commission’s mobile application and the official portal result.eci.gov.in, he said.

A total of 15,465 counting personnel have been deployed for the exercise, while 32,301 police personnel, including 20 companies of Central Armed Police Forces, have been deployed for security at counting centres.

Each Assembly constituency will have a dedicated counting observer, mostly senior IAS officers, to supervise the process, Kelkar said.

Only persons with QR-based identity cards will be allowed entry into counting centres, he said.

Kelkar said counting staff and security personnel had undergone detailed training, and strict instructions had been issued to ensure there was no haste in the counting process.

“There is no award for finishing first. But any lapse will invite strict disciplinary action,” he said.

District administrations have been empowered to regulate or restrict victory processions if required to maintain law and order, he said, adding that the Model Code of Conduct will remain in force till May 6 or until withdrawn by the Election Commission.

Kelkar also warned against the spread of misinformation related to election results.

“Legal action will be taken against those spreading false news or misinformation. The public should rely only on official information released by the Election Commission,” he said. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)