The counting of votes in five states has begun at 8 am. The Election Commission made elaborate arrangements for counting of votes in 690 Assembly constituencies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.The Commission also said elaborate and full proof arrangements have been made at all the counting centres. All strong rooms, where polled EVMs are kept, are under three-layered security with inner cordon manned by central armed police forces and the candidates concerned have been watching the strong room arrangements through CCTV coverage of 24x7.
At all counting centres, the district administration has imposed prohibitory orders around the counting halls to ensure that peace and tranquillity is not disturbed while the representative of the political parties or candidates are involved at each stage related to EVM such as opening and closing of EVM warehouse and at each stage, serial number of each EVM (including polled) will be shared with the political parties/candidates. After each round of counting, tabulation of results in a prescribed format will be done. This will be signed by the Returning Officer and Observer, and a copy will be shared with the candidates. After the announcement of round-wise results, counting of the next round will be taken up as per extant instructions. A media centre has been set up at each counting location for round-wise dissemination of trends. Media passes have also been issued.