New Delhi, November 10: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday held a press conference and announced that the counting so far in Bihar has been  glitch-free and more than 1 crore votes have been counted in the state till 1.30 pm. "Needless to say that there has been an absolutely glitch-free counting process so far. Slightly more than 1 crore votes have been counted in Bihar which means that is significant ground to be covered yet", the Election Commission of India (ECI) said.

During the press conference, the Election Commission informed that the counting of votes will probably end by late night on Tuesday as the polling booths have been increased this time. The ECI said that as per law, all postal ballots received till 8 am today are to be taken up for counting. "It means postal ballots received at counting centres till at 8 am today need to be taken up for counting. Data related to it will be available at the level of concerned returning officer", the ECI said.

Talking about the possibility of EVM hacking, the ECI said that it has been clarified time and again that EVMs are robust and tamper-proof. "Supreme Court upheld integrity of EVMs more than once. EC had also offered EVM challenge in 2017. Integrity of EVMs is without any doubt & merits no further clarification", Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain said. Bihar Assembly Elections Results 2020 Live News Updates.

The press conference was held by Deputy Election Commissioners Sudeep Jain, Chandrabhushan Kumar, and Ashish Kundra. In Bihar, the counting of votes is underway for the three-phase Bihar assembly elections. The counting stated at 8 am spread across 55 centres spread across 38 districts amid tight security. The exit poll predictions state a victory for the RJD-led Grand Alliance. The crucial election will decide the electoral fate of over 3,700 candidates who are in the race to win the 243 seats of the state assembly. 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 10, 2020 01:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).