In a bid to prevent the possibility of any manipulation, the Election Commission has streamlined the process of counting of postal ballots in Lok Sabha and assembly polls.

The new practice will be first implemented in Bihar where assembly polls are due in November.

Till now, on the day of counting, postal ballot counting starts at 8 am and EVM counting at 8:30 am. According to the earlier instructions, EVM counting could theoretically go on irrespective of the stage of postal ballot counting and chances of it getting completed before the completion of postal ballot counting cannot be ruled out.

Ensuring Clarity and Preventing Manipulation

Although, counting of postal ballots generally gets completed before the counting of EVMs, to ensure uniformity and utmost clarity in the counting pr

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