The Maharashtra Assembly General Election 2024 in Nashik district saw a voter turnout of 69.12%. The counting of votes for the 15 assembly constituencies in the district will begin on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at 8:00 AM. The district administration has made all necessary preparations for the smooth conduct of the vote counting process.
After the voting concluded, the voting machines have been securely stored under CCTV surveillance in strong rooms located at each assembly constituency. These rooms are guarded by a three-tier security system to ensure safety and transparency. On the morning of November 23, a meeting will be held at 5:00 AM with the employees assigned for the counting process, in the presence of the counting inspectors. Tables for the counting will be assigned to the staff at this time.
The strong rooms will be officially opened at 7:30 AM for vote counting in front of contesting candidates, their representatives, and counting observers appointed by the Election Commission.
The process of postal ballot counting will start promptly at 8:00 AM, with a specific number of tables designated based on the number of postal ballots received for each constituency. At each table, there will be an Additional Assistant Returning Officer, a Counting Supervisor, two Counting Assistants, and a Micro Inspector. Each table will handle up to 500 postal ballots.
For the Sainik (military) voters, postal ballots will be scanned and counted using the ETPBMS system before 8:00 AM. The counting of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will begin at 8:30 AM, after the postal ballots have been processed.
Each candidate can appoint one counting agent for each table. The appointed representative must be above 18 years of age. However, certain government officials such as Ministers, MPs, MLAs, Mayors, and employees of government-aided institutions are not allowed to serve as counting agents.
As per the Election Commission's rules, mobile phones and other electronic devices are strictly prohibited for staff and counting agents inside the counting center. Only Counting Inspectors, Returning Officers, and officials involved in the ENCORE and ETPBMS systems will be allowed to carry mobile phones for official work.
During the counting, two Control Units (CUs) will be randomly selected in each round, and the votes will be verified against candidate-wise votes. After each round of counting, the Election Returning Officer will announce the total votes for each candidate, as verified by the Counting Inspector.
The data for each round will be uploaded to the ENCORE system, and citizens can check the live vote counts on the Election Commission's official website at https://results.eci.gov.in.
After completing the EVM and postal ballot counting, VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) slips from 5 random polling stations will be cross-checked against the candidate-wise votes in the control unit. This process will be conducted in the presence of election inspectors and the candidates or their representatives.
Once the entire counting process is completed, the Election Returning Officer will announce the official vote tally for each candidate after verifying with the Counting Inspector. The final results will also be declared after all the rounds of counting and verification.
Candidates, representatives, and citizens should rely only on the official results announced by the Election Returning Officer. Any other sources of information should not be trusted.
The Collector and District Election Officer, Shri Sharma, has confirmed that all necessary arrangements have been made to ensure the integrity and transparency of the counting process.