The counting of votes for municipal elections across 92 urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh municipal elections began at 8 am on Tuesday, state election commission authorities said.
Officials estimate that the initial process of sorting and bundling ballot papers based on the votes polled in different divisions and wards will take between one and one-and-a-half hours. The SEC said it had made extensive arrangements for the counting process at 138 centres across Andhra Pradesh. As many as 47,817 officials, employees and other personnel will be involved in the exercise. Ballot papers will first be arranged into bundles of 25 each before the actual counting begins, according to the counting procedure.
The high court dismissed petitions filed by YSR Congress Party candidate for Kadapa chairperson post Y S Pramila and party MP Y S Avinash Reddy, seeking a halt to the counting process. “The district administration in these districts expressed inability to take up counting of votes, due to disruption to normal movement and transportation of counting material. Punetha said the Commission rescheduled the commencement of counting of votes from 8 am to 11.30 am in these two districts. Meanwhile, the state high court, at 7.30 am on Tuesday, delivered its judgement giving the green signal for counting of votes in the municipal elections at Pulivendula in YSR Kadapa district, people familiar with the matter said.
It would be extremely difficult for the counting staff to reach their respective counting centres at the scheduled time,” state election commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said, adding that the district authorities wanted postponement of the counting process in these two districts. “If there is no respite from heavy rains, the commission will take further decision in the matter,” he added.
