Election Fee mandates full postal poll depend earlier than remaining EVM rounds in new directive

The Election Fee of India has directed that postal ballots be counted earlier than the ultimate rounds of EVM votes, marking its thirtieth main reform prior to now six months.The transfer introduced in a Press Info Bureau (PIB) notification on Thursday, September 25, is aimed toward lowering delays and making certain uniformity within the counting course of.

Postal ballots take priority

Below the revised guidelines, the penultimate spherical of EVM and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Path (VVPAT) counting will start solely after the postal poll depend has been accomplished on the centre involved.

Postal poll counting begins at 8 am on the day of outcomes, adopted by EVM counting at 8.30 am. Till now, EVM rounds might technically get forward of postal ballots. Whereas postal votes normally end earlier, the Fee mentioned the rise in numbers as a consequence of dwelling voting for Individuals with Disabilities (PwDs) and electors above 85 years had made formal modifications vital.

Measures to forestall delays

To deal with the upper volumes, Returning Officers have been directed to arrange sufficient counting tables and deploy enough workers. “This may guarantee the method is additional streamlined and accomplished directly,” the ECI mentioned.

A part of wider electoral reforms

The most recent instruction is the thirtieth measure launched since March. In line with the PIB, the Fee has already undertaken 29 reforms masking voter comfort, transparency, and know-how adoption.

These embody delisting 808 unrecognised political events, capping the variety of voters at a polling station at 1,200, issuing commonplace photograph ID playing cards to booth-level officers, holding 4,719 all-party conferences throughout the nation, and launching the ECINET platform that brings collectively greater than 40 digital functions.

Push for readability and transparency

The Fee mentioned the brand new directive reinforces its concentrate on effectivity, readability, and transparency within the electoral course of. Officers famous that the modifications are anticipated to minimise confusion and delays throughout counting, significantly in constituencies with a excessive share of postal votes.