Panchayat polls: District Collectors asked to remain present during counting

Bhubaneswar: To maintain transperency during the counting of votes of the Zilla Parishad candidates, the State Election Commission (SEC) has asked all the district collectors to be present during the counting on Saturday.

The SEC has also directed the Superintendents of Police (SPs) of all the districts to tighten security during the counting scheduled to begin at 9 am tomorrow.

The SEC said that the candidates can ask for recounting if they want.

The five-phased three-tier rural election was held on February 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21. Around 2.6 crore voters exercised their franchise to elect 853 Zilla Parishad members, 6,802 Sarpanch, 6,801 Panchayat Samiti members and 92,052 Ward Members.