Agartala, Feb 28, 2023, TRIPURA TIMES Desk

Agartala, Feb 28: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Tripura- Kiran Gitte on Tuesday inspected the counting centre at Umakanta Academy and reviewed the preparedness for the counting of votes scheduled on March 2 next.

Speaking to the media, he said, the counting of votes would start at 8 am in 21 centres across Tripura amid tight security and ballot papers would be counted first.

There are 14 counting halls in Umakanta Academy—the counting halls for assembly constituencies 1 to 5, 9 to 11 and 13 are in the new building and for assembly constituencies 6 to 8 and 14 to 18, the counting halls are in the old building, the CEO said.

There would be three-tier security arrangements in all the counting centres while every counting table would have one micro observer, he said, adding that counting of VVPATs from 5 polling stations of every constituency would take place; the 5 polling stations would be decided based on lottery.

In the 60 assembly constituencies, 5 rounds of counting would take place on an average and the counting of EVMs would start after postal ballots, the CEO told reporters.

During his visit to the counting centre, the CEO was accompanied by West Tripura District Election Officer Debapriya Bardhan, Returning Officer of 8- Town Bordowali Arup Deb, Additional SP Rajdeep Deb and SDPO Sadar Ajay Kumar Das.

According to the CEO, two media centres would be there in new and old buildings of Umakanta Academy.

Meanwhile, the elections in Tripura were held on February 16 last with around 90 percent turnout. A total of 259 candidates contested the polls followed by high-voltage campaigns.

In a video message, the Chief Electoral Officer appealed to all to maintain the peace, harmony and law and order in the post-counting period.