Assam Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Goel has visited multiple districts to inspect the strong rooms and counting centers and assess the overall arrangements ahead of vote counting for the Assam Assembly elections on May 4. During his visit, Goel reviewed the arrangements within the counting halls, assessed the overall security measures at the counting centers, and examined other critical aspects to ensure a smooth, transparent, and secure counting process.
Notably, a training programme for district election officers, returning officers and election officers was held here on Saturday in order to ensure smooth conduct of the vote counting process. Organised under the aegis of the chief electoral officer, Assam, the programme covered detailed planning and various aspects of implementation of the counting process, in line with the guidelines of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The Assam chief electoral officer, along with the additional chief electoral officer and joint chief electoral officers attended the programme as resource persons. The chief electoral officer instructed all concerned officials to ensure that the counting process is carried out strictly in accordance with the guidelines of the ECI. Goel also highlighted the arrangements to be made in the counting halls and emphasized the need for special vigilance in the management of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines during the counting process.
The training programme covered all key aspects, including counting of postal ballot and EVMs, opening of strong rooms and transportation of materials to counting halls, deployment and training of counting personnel, issuance of identity cards to counting agents, fire safety measures, media management besides post-counting procedures to be completed within the stipulated time.
