Counting of votes: 3,000 cops, 1,500 officials deployed at 11 centres in Ernakulam district

Kochi: All arrangements have been made for counting votes at 11 centres in Ernakulam district on Wednesday. The counting, which begins at 8am, will be done by 1,500 officials. District collector M G Rajamanickam, who also holds the charge of district election officer, said that the counting would be monitored by election observers at eight centres.
The officials in charge of counting will arrive at their respective centres by 6am. Agents of political parties have been asked to be present at these centres by 7am. The officers for counting at each table will be assigned by the central team through random selection from 5am.
Each counting centre will be managed by 160 officers apart from police and paramilitary personnel. Vote counting in all 14 constituencies will be monitored by observers.
Postal votes (to be counted first) will be accepted at each counting centre till 8am on Thursday. The counting of regular votes will start by collecting electronic voting machine data from the first booth in each constituency. The use of mobile phone has been strictly prohibited at counting centres.
For technical assistance, personnel from the Electronic Corporation of India will be present at all centres. For medical aid, there will be a doctor and an ambulance at each centre. About 3,000 cops have been deputed to provide security cover.
Vehicles will not be allowed to park within 100 metres of counting centres.