9,000 officials to count votes

Chennai: Today is the day when the fate of political leaders will be decided. And to ensure that the counting of electoral ballots on this crucial day is conducted smoothly, the Election Commission has been busy making various arrangements.
By 8am on Thursday, counting of postal votes will begin and after 30 minutes, EVMs will be opened and counting of general votes will begin.
More than 9,000 officials will be involved in the counting. And to make certain that no untoward incidents happen, thousands of state policemen will be responsible for security in counting centres and other places.
By 9am, the state can expect to know the result trend and final results will trickle in by 11am for small constituencies like Harbour and Kilvelur where the number of voters is lower. "There are 68 counting centres across the state. Each constituency has a separate counting hall and 219 constituencies will have 14 tables each. Sholinganallur, the maximum highest voter constituency, will have 24 tables," said chief electoral official Rajesh Lakhoni. Each table will be videographed and all the tables will also have a micro observer. "There are 9,621 counting personnel, 3,971 micro observers and each constituency will also have separate observer," he said.
Other necessary arrangements such as power back-up will be made in areas affected by rain to ensure smooth counting. "Officials have been directed to provide adequate arrangement, including generators at counting centres in rain-hit areas to ensure uninterrupted power supply," Lakhoni said. "As per Election Commission guidelines, all counting centres will run on generators as primary power. TNEB will be the stand-by power," said a senior TNEB official.
On security arrangements, CRPF personnel will be in-charge of premises inside the counting centres. "Tamil Nadu police personnel will guard the exterior area. Only CRPF personnel will be inside and they will not allow other people inside the counting hall except officials and party officials," said an EC official.