All about June 4: How are votes counted?

The story so far: The world’s biggest and most expensive democratic exercise will soon conclude its seven-phase run. On June 4, India will prepare to announce the verdict of the 2024 General Elections. Barricades will be placed, ballot boxes unsealed, paper trails of EVMs checked, results squared and declared — a verdict that will reconfigure the 543-Constituency map. As States gear up for counting day, The Hindu breaks down the proceedings that will play out in concert on June 4.

Who does the counting?

The Election Commission of India decides the date and time of counting in advance. The person presiding over the process of elections— and counting— is a Parliamentary Constituency’s Returning Officer (RO), who declares the location and allocates counting centres based on the number of votes. The ECI, in consultation with the State Government, nominates the RO, usually an officer of the government or a local authority. Government schools, colleges, or the headquarters of the RO in that constituency are common venues. Aiding the RO are Assistant Returning Officers (ARO) in each Constituency. The RO counts postal ballots at one table, whereas the ARO is in charge of EVM counting at another table.

The process is overseen by Counting Agents. The ECI requires there to be one counting supervisor, a counting assistant, and one micro-observer for each table. Counting tables are set behind barricades or wire mesh, so that the EVMs are not physically approachable to the Agents, but they can spectate and scrutinise the process. 

Counting Agents are selected through a three-stage randomised process to ensure impartiality, the ECI notes in its handbook. In Chennai, for instance, a total of 1,433 officers (357 micro-observers, 374 counting supervisors, 380 counting assistants and 322 office assistants) have been picked this year for the process, Corporation Commissioner J. Radhakrishnan told reporters. Officers are informed about respective centres in the second phase of randomisation; followed by a final draw of agents on the main counting day.

A component of training is to duly inspect the Special Tag, the Green Paper Seals and vital seals fastened on the carrying case and the Control Unit of the EVM, to ensure the protections are intact and were not tampered with. 

How does the counting happen?

The counting hall has 14 tables, arranged parallelly. In the case of simultaneous parliamentary and assembly elections, the first seven tables are used for counting votes for assembly elections, and the rest for parliamentary elections. 

Also Read: Trust in machines: On the Supreme Court and the EVM 

Vote counting will begin under the direct supervision of the RO at 8 a.m. Per ECI’s ‘Handbook for Counting Agents’, counting begins with the enumeration of postal ballots (both electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot Papers and normal postal ballot papers). After 30 minutes, “the EVM counting can start and continue, irrespective of the stage of postal ballot counting,” according to the handbook. The Control Units (CU) of the EVM, the part where votes are registered, are brought to the counting hall from polling stations and distributed across the counting tables. The account of votes recorded in form 17C (which shows the number of votes polled at a polling station) is also provided. The CU has two buttons in the middle — ‘Result’ and ‘Print’. The Result button sits behind the Green Paper Seal; once the seal is pierced through and the button pressed, the total number of votes recorded for each candidate and NOTA should automatically be displayed .

Counting happens in rounds; the results from 14 EVMs are declared at the end of each cycle (reflected in news reports as “leads.”) ECI requires that the Control Units for the next round only be brought onto the counting tables once the counting of the previous round is over. It can go on for multiple rounds as necessary; in Andhra Pradesh, officials said they have prepared measures for 140 rounds of counting.

The process of tallying VVPAT slips begins once EVM counting concludes. The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails registers the name, the serial number and the symbol of the party, which is visible to the voter for about seven seconds. It is later stored in the machine and can be used to corroborate the results of the EVM. The verification is conducted inside a secured VVPAT Counting Booth located within the counting hall (any counting table can be converted into a Booth once EVM counting finishes).

Earlier, under ECI guideline 16.6, only VVPAT slips from one EVM in every Assembly segment/constituency were subjected to a physical verification. The Supreme Court later required that verification be increased to five EVMs in each Assembly segment of a Parliamentary Constituency, amounting to roughly 25-50 machines for each PC. If clear and congruous, the RO can declare the final constituency result after the VVPAT matching process.

The counting process is conducted under high security and surveillance. “Every activity during the counting will be videotaped. The counting activities will start at 5 a.m. Barricades will be put up 100 metres away from the counting area,” Andhra Pradesh official M. Vijaya Suneetha told The Hindu last week, adding that central security forces will be deployed at strongrooms and counting centres. No electronic devices — cellphones, laptops, tablet computers, and calculators — are allowed inside the halls during the duration of the counting period.

What happens in case of inconsistencies?

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In case of discrepancy between the count of votes on CUs and on paper slips, the ECI directs that the printed paper slips be counted, the result of which is taken as the final verdict, as per Rule 56(D) (4)(b) of Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961. It is unclear if the ECI would take further action should a discrepancy emerge in the count of one of the five VVPATs.

“Despite the necessity for recount being totally eliminated by the use of voting machines, the provisions relating to recount contained in Rule 63 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, still apply in relation to constituencies,” the ECI notes in its handbook.

A candidate, their election agent or any of the counting agents can write to the RO mentioning the grounds for recount of votes recorded at all or any of polling stations. The decision lies with the RO: “He/she may allow the application in whole or in part if it is reasonable, or he/she may reject it in toto if it appears to be frivolous or unreasonable. The decision of the Returning Officer will be final,” the ECI states.

This year, Opposition parties, civil society actors and activists have expressed scepticism around ECI’s transparency and its commitment to the conduct of free and fair elections. The ECI’s delay in uploading polling station-wise voter turnout data, and discrepancies in the initial turnout figures and the final voter percentages, have stepped up concerns about the possibility of manipulation at the counting stage.

To encourage vigilance, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on May 26 announced a checklist for political parties and candidates to follow on counting day. “A lot of people are saying that these machines are possibly tampered with. So, we want to make sure that they are not tampered with, nothing more than that,” Mr. Sibal said. He advised parties to look out for the time when the machine was opened, and to match the serial number of the CU before and after pressing the ‘Result’ button. The total votes polled must also align with the number mentioned in Form 17C Part I. He added, “Do not press the ‘result’ button until the verification is done in the above column and if there is a difference between that timing and the timing of the result then there is something wrong.”