The counting of votes cast across 543 constituencies for the Lok Sabha elections commenced on June 4, beginning with postal ballots. These ballots, also known as mail-in ballots, allow registered voters to vote by mail instead of at polling booths. This alternative is especially convenient for individuals who are unable to vote in person due to reasons like old age, being away from their home district, having a disability, or being engaged in essential duties on election day. Media personnel covering the elections were also permitted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to use postal ballots in this general election.
Prior to the counting day, the Opposition-led INDIA bloc requested the poll body to direct Returning Officers to ensure postal ballots are counted and their results declared before the electronic voting machines (EVMs) results are announced. In a letter to the ECI, Opposition leaders noted that the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 requires the counting of postal ballots to begin first. However, they claimed that this statutory practice had been disregarded by the poll body despite its 2019 guidelines.
Current guidelines, as detailed in the 2023 Handbook for Counting Agents, state: “After 30 minutes of commencement of postal ballot counting, the EVM counting can start and continue irrespective of the stage of postal ballot counting. Once the EVM counting is completed, the VVPAT slip counting can also start.”
Opposition’s Concerns
In their letter to the ECI, Opposition parties noted the significant increase in the number of postal ballots in this Lok Sabha election. They pointed out that during the 2020 Bihar elections, the winning margin was 12,700 votes while the number of postal ballots was 52,000. “In fact, there was a huge outcry in Bihar as it was the first election (conducted after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic) where the postal ballots were counted at the end of the counting of EVM votes,” the INDIA bloc stated. They urged the poll body to retract its May 2019 circular and issue directions under Rule 54A of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, which mandates the counting of postal ballots first.
Responding to this demand, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday affirmed that the count of postal ballots would commence first across all counting centers, assuring that there was “no doubt about it.”