Counting of votes in elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly got underway Sunday morning, with security personnel maintaining a strict vigil in counting centres in the state’s 33 districts, including those affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), a poll official said.
The elections were held in two phases on November 7 and 17. Voter turnout stood at 76.31 per cent, which was slightly lower than the 76.88 per cent recorded in the 2018 polls. “Counting of votes for all the 90 seats started at 8 am in 33 district headquarters. A three-layer security mechanism is in place at each counting centre,” Chhattisgarh Chief Electoral Officer Reena Kangale said. “The counting of postal ballots began at 8 am. Half an hour after the postal ballots are counted, the process of counting votes from the EVMs will begin, she said. A total of 90 returning officers, 416 assistant returning officers, 4596 counting personnel and 1698 micro-observers have been appointed for carrying out the counting
