The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched new guidelines aimed at streamlining postal ballot counting, in its 30th reform initiative over the past six months. Under the revised rules, all postal ballots must be counted before the penultimate (second-last) round of counting the votes from Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and VVPAT. Earlier, postal ballot counting started at 8:00 am and EVM counting at 8:30 am, which allowed EVM counting to progress even before postal ballots were fully tallied. The new directive mandates that EVM/VVPAT counting cannot proceed to its penultimate stage until postal ballots are finished at each counting centre. To support this, Returning Officers (ROs) are instructed to deploy adequate counting tables and staff, especially in constituencies receiving a high volume of postal ballots, so that delays can be minimized. The motive is to bring uniformity, clarity, and transparency to a process that has seen discrepancies and procedural ambiguities in past elections. The change comes especially as postal ballots have grown in importance, with recent expansions to include home voting for persons with disabilities (PwDs) and senior citizens aged 85 and above. One concrete example: In Bihar, the ECI is implementing these new rules starting with upcoming assembly polls, ensuring that the counting sequence aligns with the new directive. Additionally, the ECI explicitly stated that EVM counting will only begin after the postal ballots are fully counted to prevent overlap or confusion. #ElectionReform #PostalBallot #VoteCounting #ECI #Transparency #ElectoralIntegrity #EVM #VVPAT #InclusiveVoting #IndiaElections
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of enabling large-scale voter deletions in Karnataka’s 2023 Assembly elections. He claimed over 6,000 names were removed from voter lists in Aland constituency using fake logins and phone numbers from outside the state, particularly targeting Congress strongholds. Gandhi stated that despite 18 requests from the Karnataka CID, the ECI has not shared critical data like IP addresses, device ports, and OTP trails. In response, the ECI rejected the allegations, citing proper due process and filing an FIR for the Aland incident. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and the BJP criticized Gandhi, calling the claims baseless and politically motivated, urging him to accept his party’s electoral defeats. #RahulGandhi #ElectionCommission #ECI #KarnatakaElections2023 #VoterDeletion #AlandConstituency #CongressParty #BJP #KirenRijiju #ElectionControversy #PoliticalNews #IndiaPolitics #ElectoralIssues #VoterRights #FIR #ElectionAllegations #News #newsone
