Elaborate security arrangements have been made at six counting centres in the Union Territory, where the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are sealed and stored following the April 9 polls to elect a 30-member Puducherry Legislative Assembly.

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The counting centres have been provided with round-the-clock, three-layered security arrangements. The outer layer will be guarded by territorial police, the ground floor by personnel of the India Reserve Battalion, and the gates of the strong room by the Central Armed Police Forces.

The six counting centres in the UT are the Government Women’s Engineering College, Motilal Nehru Government Polytechnic College, Government Tagore Arts and Science College (all three are at Lawspet in the Puducherry region), Arignar Anna Arts and Science College, Karaikal, Jawaharlal Nehru Government Higher Secondary School, Mahe, and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Arts College, Yanam. 

According to officials, personnel from different forces will guard the counting centres in shifts every eight hours. There will be 12 personnel from each force guarding the 12 strong rooms across the three counting centres in the Puducherry region. The entire premises is under closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance, an election official said.

“The forces will be monitored by senior officers from their respective wings. The District Collector, who is also the District Election Officer, and the Senior Superintendent of Police (Law and Order) will visit the centres daily to review the deployment and CCTV footage. Candidates or their agents are allowed to view the footage each day,” the official said.

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The EVMs from all 1,099 polling stations were moved to the counting centres immediately after polling ended on Thursday. The sealing of the machines was completed only by the wee hours of Friday after they were brought to the centres. The security arrangements will continue until the counting of votes commences on the morning of May 4, the official added.