The 2014 Lok Sabha election results will be out by 4 pm on 16 May, said the Election Commission(EC). The counting of votes will start at 8 am, first by taking the postal ballots, the EC officials stated.
India held the general elections in nine phases from 7 April till 12 May, and the counting of the votes will take place in a total of 989 centres. The EC stated that about 50 foreign delegates from 20 countries are being facilitated to witness the Lok Sabha elections.
The counting of votes from Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will start after half-an-hour of the counting of the postal ballots starts. Even if the postal ballots takes longer time to count, the counting of EVM votes will start exactly at 8.30 am, the EC said.
Amid elaborate arrangements for the vote counting, all proceedings would be videographed, the EC officials said.
EVMs would be taken to the counting centres in the morning of 16 May, before the counting starts. Actual preparation for the vote counting will start at 5am itself. Adequate security arrangements would be made at all counting centres in the country, the EC stated.
The EC officials also stressed that the poll trends would be known by 11 am and the final results would be out between 3 pm and 4 pm. The first trends are likely to trickle in by 8.30 am.
The EC said that trends of the poll results will be available on www.eciresults.nic.in.
The trends towards the single largest party to win the poll would emerge by 11 am, the EC revealed.
Contestants can enter counting centres without his/her security guards. Candidates with Special Protection Group (SPG) cover will be allowed inside with one guard in plain clothes with only "one concealed arms."
