Pune district collector reviews prep for vote counting

The district administration has started preparations for the counting of votes for 21 assembly constituencies in the Pune district on Saturday, November 23, at 8 am.

The counting will take place at Food Corporation of India (FCI) Koregaon Park, Balewadi Sports Stadium, Chinchwad Kamgar Bhavan and for Shirur it will be held at Ranjangaon MIDC.

District collector Suhas Diwase said, “Total rounds for counting of votes will be between 19 and 30 depending on the number of voters. The counting will start at 8 am on Saturday. First, the postal ballot will be counted and later votes registered on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).”

“For Pune city’s eight assembly constituencies, voting will be done at FCI Koregaon Park. The counting for assembly constituencies falling into Maval Lok Sabha constituency will be done at Balewadi Sports Stadium and Chinchwad area at Kamgar Bhavan. The counting for the remaining 10 assembly constituencies in the district would happen at tehsil headquarters.”

Collector Diwase who is also the district election officer, said, “The staff has been appointed and EVMs have been placed at the strong room centres which are under the surveillance of CCTV cameras 24X7. Even candidates have access to check streaming of strong rooms.”

“We will conduct a mock drill on Friday at all locations so that there is no confusion on the counting day. Representatives will be allocated for each counting centre and each table to monitor the counting,” he said.

Collector said, “The necessary police bandobast had been deployed around the counting centres. Even necessary parking arrangements have been made near the centres. A public announcement system has been installed which will inform the general public about the counting process.”