Pune Legislative Council Elections: Counting Arrangements Ready For Graduate And Teachers' Constituencies At Balewadi Sports Complex

Preparations for counting votes in the Pune Division Graduate and Teachers’ constituencies for the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections have been completed, with Divisional Commissioner and Returning Officer Sheetal Teli-Ugale directing officials to ensure that the process is conducted accurately, peacefully and in coordination.

Counting Arranged At Balewadi Sports Complex

The counting will be held on Tuesday, August 27, at the badminton hall of the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi. Officials and staff appointed for the exercise underwent training on the counting procedures, with Collectors and Assistant Returning Officers from all five districts of the Pune division participating.

Teli-Ugale instructed officials to exercise caution at every stage and ensure that there were no errors during the counting rounds. She emphasised the need to correctly complete and submit the prescribed forms, resolve objections regarding valid and invalid ballot papers in accordance with the rules, and maintain coordination among counting supervisors, assistants and data compilation teams.

Preference-Based Counting Procedures Explained

Since the counting will be conducted based on the preference rankings marked on ballot papers, officials have been asked to follow the prescribed procedures carefully. Teli-Ugale also urged staff to clarify their doubts during training to avoid confusion on counting day.

Additional Collector and Additional Director General of MahaUrja Arun Anandkar trained officials assigned to the Teachers’ constituency, while Joint Commissioner Sanjay Palande conducted training for those handling the Graduate constituency.

The training included demonstrations on opening ballot boxes, preparing bundles of 50 ballot papers, classifying valid and invalid ballots, completing prescribed forms and submitting result sheets after each round. Officials were also briefed on the facilities and arrangements made for the counting process.

100 tables for Graduate constituency

A total of 100 tables will be arranged for counting votes in the Graduate constituency across five halls, with each hall having two rows of 10 tables.

For the Teachers’ constituency, 42 tables will be set up across three halls, with each hall having two rows of seven tables.

Each counting table will be staffed by one counting supervisor, two counting assistants and one attendant. Officials have been instructed to follow the prescribed rules and complete the process within the stipulated time.