The counting of votes for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 and some state Assembly elections will take place on May 23. The polling for the 17th Lok Sabha were scheduled to take place in seven phases from April 11 to May 19. At present, India is witnessing the biggest democratic exercise in the world to vote for the 17th Lok Sabha. With the last phase of voting to be held on May 19, the seven-phase Lok Sabha Elections will come to an end. India holds the world’s biggest electoral exercise" every five years, with over 900 million voters across different states. Also, with several other reforms, the process of counting votes, too, has witnessed a dynamic shift in the last two decades. Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Results Satta Bazaar Prediction Analysis: India Heading Towards A 'Maha Milawat' Government, This Way Or That?

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is preparing itself for the mammoth exercise of counting of votes for Lok Sabha polls on May 23. In case of a mismatch between EVM and VVPAT machine counts, the latter will be held valid. The VVPAT system is being used for the first time in a general election in India. The newly rolled out system enables Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to record each vote by generating a slip. Lok Sabha Elections Results 2019 Predictions by Satta Bazar: NDA May Win 185-220 Seats, UPA 160-180, Says Matka.

Date of Counting of Votes for Lok Sabha Elections 2019:

The counting of votes for all 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held on May 23. Additionally, counting for state assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will also be . Nearly 90 crore voters will be eligible to vote for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country.

Time of Counting of Votes for Lok Sabha Elections 2019

The counting will begin at 8 AM on May 23. The initial trends will be released around 10 AM. Around 6 PM, people of the nation will get a clear picture as to which party is on the winning side in the Lok Sabha Elections 2019. The counting is expected to end around 8 PM on May 23, which will close the counting of the biggest democratic exercise in the world. Lok Sabha Election Result 2019 Predictions by Satta Bazar: BJP May Win Over 240 Seats, Congress 80, Say Matka Players in MP, Rajasthan And Gujarat.

SC order on VVPATS

Currently, the EC matches VVPAT slips of EVMs under the "one EVM per assembly segment" guideline. After the Supreme Court’s order, the Election Commission will have to count the VVPAT slips of five times as many machines in each constituency, or that of 20,625 EVMs. 5 EVMs Per Constituency To Be Verified With VVPATs in Lok Sabha Elections 2019, Orders Supreme Court.

According to media reports, the Lok Sabha Election results are expected to get delayed by four hours on May 23 or may be declared by morning of May 24, an election officer said after the court increased VVPAT count to five - instead of one - in every assembly segment. In the last Lok Sabha Elections held in 2014, India had 815 million voters and at least 1.7 million EVMs were used in the nine-phase election. Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Schedule: Voting In 7 Phases From April 11 to May 19, Counting And Results On May 23; Check All Dates For General Elections.

Delay Expected in Counting of Votes

According to a report by NDTV, Sudeep Jain, Deputy Election Commissioner, who is in-charge of the VVPATs said on an average, counting of votes using one VVPAT takes about an hour. “Earlier we were counting one VVPAT, now we are adding four more, which would mean additional four hours. So the results will be out by the evening or latest by May 24 morning”, he was quoted in the report. Here are FAQs about VVPATs answered.

After over five decades of ballot papers, India completely shifted to Electronic Voting machines in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. The Supreme Court on April 8 had issued directives to the Election Commission to tally the VVPAT slips of at least five EVMs in each Assembly segment in a Lok Sabha constituency. Earlier, the Election Commission used to count the VVPAT slips of just one EVM in every Assembly Constituency. It is to be noted that over 1.7 million VVPATs are being used in this election.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 16, 2019 03:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).