Counting of votes for DDC elections in J-K to begin at 9 am on Tuesday

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], December 21 (ANI): All necessary arrangements have been made for Tuesday’s counting of votes for District Development Council (DDC) elections which concluded on December 19, State Election Commissioner KK Sharma said on Monday.

Sharma, who chaired a review meeting, said that the counting of votes for 280 DDC constituencies will begin from 9 am on Tuesday at all district headquarters across the Union Territory.

According to an official release, the meeting was attended by all deputy commissioners (DCs) of Jammu and Kashmir through video conferencing while Secretary State Election Commission and other senior election officers attended the meeting in person.

The DCs informed the SEC about all arrangements for counting of votes for DDC polls. Each hall will have dedicated tables and each table with counting assistants monitored by one counting supervisor.

The SEC said that the process in each centre will be supervised by a Returning Officer and Assistant Returning Officer.

“The counting exercise will be recorded by CCTV cameras and will be overseen by observers also,” he said.

He said the counting will begin with the opening of ballot boxes and subsequently, these will be made into bundles of 25 each and compared with the actual number of votes polled in each polling station. The bundles will then be mixed together as per the counting guidelines.

COVID-19 protocols will be followed during the counting process, he said.

Sharma complimented the DCs for successfully conducting DDC and panchayat by-polls in their respective districts.  (ANI)