Judgment Day: Counting of votes today amid 3-tier security

Counting of votes for five-phase Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held on Tuesday under tight security measures and three-tier security ring will be deployed around the counter centres.
Counting centres have been set-up at all district headquarters in the state and the process will begin at 8 am.
“28 counting centres consisting 94 halls have been set-up to conduct the counting process at all district headquarters,” J&K  Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Umang Narula has said.
He said more than one counting centre has been set-up in districts like Kupwara, Baramulla and Doda.
Each counting centre will have minimum 10 counting tables for each assembly constituency.
Stringent security arrangements have been made around the counting centres and three tier-security ring would be deployed around these centres.
While paramilitary forces will  form the inner circle of security inside the counting centres, J&K police and CRPF men will ensure their safety from outside.
Sources said extra police force has been deployed outside each counting centre. “CRPF men have also been kept on standby mode to manage unnecessary crowd and party workers outside the centres.”
A day before the counting, election officials at district level interacted with political candidates and their representatives, requesting them to adhere to the guidelines of Election Commission of India.
“Postal ballots would be counted first. After a gap of 30 minutes, the EVMs would be opened. Assistant Returning officers (AROs) will oversee the postal ballot counting. The entire process would be video-graphed and the trends would be shared every hour,”  Narula said.
He said in case counting of postal ballots takes more time, the counting of votes on EVMs would start at the scheduled time. “The migrant votes of all constituencies of Kashmir region would be counted at Jammu, Delhi and Udhampur respectively”.
As per Election Commission regulations, there will be 10 micro observers deployed in each parliamentary seat and an Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) will be deployed in each counting table.
Mobile phones and other electronic gadgets have been banned at the counting premises but election officials can use laptop or other devices to transmit results.
Barring the counting supervisors, micro observers and persons authorized by the Election Commission, no one else would be allowed to enter the counting centres.
Over 15, 000 EVMs, which hold the fate of 831 candidates, including 276 independent, have been kept under high security in strong rooms across the state.
Jammu and Kashmir registered a high voter turnout of 66 per cent in recently concluded five-phase polls of 87-member Assembly. The voter turnout was 4 per cent more than last Assembly elections held in 2008.
Chief minister Omar Abdullah and opposition PDP’s chief ministerial candidate Mufti Muhammad Sayeed are among 831 candidates, who are seeking election from the 87 constituencies.
While Omar is contesting from Beerwah seat in Budgam district and Sonawar seat in Srinagar, Mufti is seeking re-election from Anantnag Assembly segment in the south Kashmir district.