Poll results: 1,300 officials to be deployed in Mizoram on May 23

Aizawl: Over 1,300 officials will be deployed for counting of votes for Mizoram’s lone Lok Sabha seat and Aizawl West-I assembly seat to be held along with rest of the country on Thursday, officials said on Monday.

The election machinery is fully prepared for D-Day in which the fate of six contesting candidates for Lok Sabha and three for assembly by-polls will be declared.

Joint chief electoral officer H Lianzela told EastMojo that counting for the Lok Sabha elections and assembly by-polls will be held in 40 counting halls in 10 counting centres across the state. There will be three counting centres in Aizawl and one each in the seven other district headquarters, he said.

In Aizawl, counting will be held at Assembly Annexe, R. Dengthuama hall and Govt. Aizawl College.

According to the poll officer, there will be 387 counting tables and in each counting table, one counting supervisor, a counting assistant and a micro-observer will be deployed besides two additional micro-observers to assist observers.

Altogether, 1,321 officials will be deployed for counting besides 20% officials who are kept on reserve, Lianzela said.

Also Read: Mizoram fully prepared for LS polls, assembly by-election: CEO

Meanwhile, Aizawl district deputy commissioner Vanlalngaihsaka, who is the returning officer of Lok Sabha elections, told reporters that results are likely to get delayed on counting day due to introduction of Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballots System (ETPBS) for service voters.

He said that there will be pre-counting hall for scanning electronically transmitted postal ballots at Assembly conference hall in Aizawl, where 40 tables will be positioned and each table will be manned by a counting supervisor and a counting assistant.

The scanned postal ballots will be counted at one counting hall by the returning officer, who will be assisted by five assistant returning officers, he said.

Vanlalngaihsaka said that results are likely to get delayed as counting of a single postal ballot is likely to take more than one minute. He appealed to the people to be patient with the polling officials in case results are delayed.

According to the returning officer, there are a total of 4,687 service voters in the state of which 3,119 votes have been received till Monday. Electronically transmitted postal ballots will be accepted till counting begins, he said.

Training sessions were held for counting officials across the state on Monday.

Election to lone Lok Sabha seat and bypolls to Aizawl West-I assembly seat were held simultaneously in a single phase on April 11, when the country went for the first round of polling. Of the total 7,87,777 electorates, including 4,04,169 female voters and five third gender voters, 63.02% of voters had exercised their franchise.