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Body elections: Counting of votes on 15th, officials get training

Harshad Dewangan 14 February 2025

Under the guidance of Collector and District Election Officer Vilas Bhoskar, counting training was organized in the District Panchayat hall under the Urban Body Election 2025, in which General Observer Dr. Santosh Kumar Dewangan, Deputy District Election Officer Sunil Nayak, District Chief Executive Officer Surguja Vinay Kumar Agarwal and other officers and employees were present.

In the training program, Chief Trainer Dr. Rajkamal Mishra gave detailed information on the rules and procedures related to the counting process. He said that counting of votes is the most sensitive phase of the election process, so it should be taken very seriously. Entry will be given to the counting place under strict security arrangements and carrying mobile phones and other electronic devices will not be allowed.

It was told in the training that during the counting of votes, the electronic voting machines will be counted and each ballot paper will be scrutinized. Invalid votes will be separated, while valid votes will be counted candidate-wise. The counting results will be recorded in Form 20 and 21-A.

During machine counting, machines of each polling station will be checked separately and the results will be recorded in Format 18-A. The Returning Officer will prepare a tabulation in Format 22-A and declare the final result. If a recount is demanded by any candidate, the Returning Officer will consider it and recount will be done if required.

It is worth noting that the counting of votes of the Mayor of Ambikapur Municipal Corporation and councilors of all 48 wards will start from 9 am on 15 February 2025. 03 counting rooms have been set up in the Polytechnic College for counting of votes, in which counting of votes will be done center-wise. Similarly, in Nagar Panchayat Lakhanpur and Nagar Panchayat Sitapur, the counting will start at the scheduled time of 9 am.