As the counting of votes in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections begins on Monday, the Election Commission said on Saturday that a three-tier security system will be put in place at counting centres, with around 100,000 security personnel deployed for election security duties. In Chennai alone, police said nearly 20,000 security personnel have been deployed.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Archana Patnaik said that a top-notch security perimeter extending 100 meters has been established around each counting centre. She added: “Entry into this area will be strictly limited to authorized individuals. A sufficient number of police personnel will be deployed at entry points.”
The second layer, which includes the entry gates to the counting places, will be secured by state armed police personnel, who will regulate access and prevent unauthorized movement inside the building. She said: “The use of mobile phones and other communication devices will be permitted only in designated areas.”
The third layer, the innermost security layer in the counting halls and electronic voting machine (EVM) strong rooms, will be manned by Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel.
She said that 65 companies of the Civilian Police Force (CAPF) have been deployed at the counting centres.
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The European Commission, as an initiative for the first time, introduced a QR code based photo ID system through the ECINET mobile application to prevent any unauthorized entry into counting centres.
“Counting of votes registered at all 75,064 polling stations and postal ballots received will be conducted at 62 designated vote counting centres,” she said. Counting will begin at 8 a.m. using postal ballots, followed by counting in 234 halls at 8.30 a.m., and 3,324 counting tables will be used.
“A total of 10,545 personnel were deployed to triage the tasks, supported by 4,624 small monitors to ensure the transparency and integrity of the process,” she said.
The comprehensive results will be announced to all constituencies of the association by the concerned Officer (RO), using the public address system of the concerned centre, and the same will be reflected in the ECINET application.
“The results can also be viewed on the online portal results.eci.gov.in,” she added.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly elections were held on April 23.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which leads the secular Progressive Alliance comprising Congress and Left parties, is seeking to retain power, while the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) aims to return to power with its allies, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Pathali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) among others.
Actor and politician Vijay Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam has made his debut in the poll in this election.
