Election Commission of India has laid down a detailed procedure of counting votes on results day, 23 May 2019. This is an elaborate procedure to be carried out across the country in thousands of counting centers. Here is the step by step procedure of counting votes in EVMs.
1) Randomisation: First of all, EC will randomise the counting supervisors and assistants for deployment which will start at 5 AM on the counting day.
2) Counting of votes will commence at 8 AM under the supervision of Returning Officers.
3) There will be counting tables in centers. Each and every table in the counting center will have a counting supervisor along with agents selected by contesting candidates or their election agents.
4) EVMs will be inspected by authorised EC officials before vote counting begins.
5) Counting will be started by supervisor / assistant appointed by EC. Postal ballot papers will be counted simultaneously along with EVMs votes.
6) Counting supervisor will sign along with counting agents after each round of counting. The RO will counter sign it and then the results of that round will be announced.
7) The entire process of counting of votes will be video-graphed by the election commission.
8) The counting of votes will be followed by VVPAT verification. This is mandatory as per the Supreme Court guidelines. Counting of VVPAT slips has to be done for five random EVMs in each Assembly segment.
9) If there is any mismatch of votes between counting of slips and EVM results, the RO may order recounting of slips of the particular VVPAT. In such cases of election symbols of slips will be checked.
10) If the count of votes did not tally in the end, the VVPAT slip count will only be considered as final.