Thiruvananthapuram: The counting of votes polled in the Kerala local body elections for Gram Panchayats, Block Panchayats, and District Panchayats will take place simultaneously at a single table, as ballots for all three tiers of local self-government have been recorded in the control unit of a single electronic voting machine (EVM).

Votes polled at all booths in each ward of a Gram Panchayat will be counted at one table under the supervision of a counting supervisor. The units will be brought to the table sequentially, starting with Ward 1.

For instance, if a Gram Panchayat ward has two polling booths, two control units will be brought to the table. When the result button on the unit is pressed, the election results of candidates to the Gram Panchayat, Block Panchayat, and District Panchayat will be displayed in the order of Post 1, Post 2, and Post 3. The counting assistants will first record the results in the tabulation sheet, and the counting supervisor will then enter the figures in Form 24. The results will then be handed over to the Returning Officer of the Gram Panchayat, who will be present in the counting hall.

Once the results of the two booths in a ward are recorded, counting for that ward will be complete. At the same time, the votes polled for the Block and District Panchayat divisions covering that ward will also be tabulated and handed over to the Returning Officer of the Block Panchayat at regular intervals.

As the District Collector serves as the Returning Officer for the District Panchayat, the results will also be handed over to the Collector. Simultaneously, the results will be uploaded to the TREND software, enabling the public to access them online in real time.

In municipalities and corporations, where only a single vote is cast, results will be declared as soon as counting is completed, booth by booth. Once the counting for each booth is completed, counting agents of candidates contesting Gram Panchayats, municipalities, and corporations will leave the counting hall. However, agents of candidates contesting the Block and District Panchayats will remain inside the counting hall until the entire vote count for the panchayat is completed.

Results of Gram Panchayat, municipality, and corporation wards are expected to be declared first. As it takes only about 15 minutes to count votes polled in each booth, results for each ward are likely to be known within half an hour. Postal ballots will be counted first.

Officials have indicated that the number of postal votes is higher in corporation and municipality wards. Counting of votes polled for Block and District Panchayats is expected to be completed only by evening.

Statewide ban on liquor sale today
In view of the counting of votes in the local body elections, the sale of liquor has been prohibited across the State. Bars, BEVCO outlets, and Consumerfed outlets selling liquor will remain closed today.