Chennai: Counting of votes cast in the two-phase polling of rural local body elections held in nine districts of Tamilnadu, including some suburbs of Chennai, will take place tomorrow amid tight security.
State Election Commission sources said all necessary arrangements are in place. However, unlike the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections where results were known just hours after the counting due to the usage of Electronic Voting Machines, results of local body elections are likely to take more time thanks to paper ballots. ‘But we are taking steps to declare the results at the earliest,’ sources added.
The second phase of rural local body elections held in nine districts in Tamilnadu on Saturday registered a 73.27 per cent voting. The polling, to elect about 10,000 posts, was by and large peaceful barring a minor incident of stabbing in Vellore. The State had polled 74.37 per cent in the first phase of elections on 6 October.
According to the poll body, Villupuram witnessed a maximum voter turnout of 83.6 per cent and Tirunelveli the lowest of Ā per cent. While Kallakurichi saw 82 Ā per cent, Ranipet 75.3 Ā per cent, Thirupathur 73.5 Ā per cent, Kancheepuram 72 Ā per cent, Chengalpattu and Tenkasi 70 Ā per cent and Vellore registered 68 Ā per cent.
Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Tenkasi, Vellore, Ranipet, Tiruppatur, Tirunelveli, Villupuram and Kallakurichi were the nine districts that went to two-phase polls.
Polling was also held as part of the by-elections to 424 posts of the rural local bodies in 28 other districts. In Coimbatore, where the by-elections were held for a district panchayat ward member, two village panchayat presidents and 10 village panchayat ward members, 70.85 per cent of 77,104 voters exercised their franchise as of 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, AIADMK media coordinator R M Babu Murugavel has urged the SEC to declare the results of the rural local polls held for various posts in nine districts as and when the counting concludes for each post and not at one-go after counting of votes for all posts conclude.
In a memorandum addressed to State Election Commissioner, Murugavel said the party came to know that the commission had proposed to declare the results in one-go only at the end of counting of votes polled for all seats. He argued that in the past, results of counting of votes in each post will be declared as and when the counting concludes.
He added that declaring the results at one-go after counting of votes polled in all seats would pave way for ‘some malpractice and horse trade’ in election results and would also lead to ‘some untoward incidents across the nine districts.’