Overview

• ECI directs that the second-last EVM/VVPAT round will begin only after postal ballots are fully counted at the relevant counting centre.
• In multi-centre parliamentary counts, the hold applies only at centres where postal ballot scrutiny is still underway, allowing other centres to proceed.
• Returning Officers have been told to increase tables and deploy additional counting staff wherever postal ballots are heavy to avoid bottlenecks.
• The move reverses the 2019 delinking of postal and EVM counting and follows sustained calls from opposition parties concerned about tight finishes.
• The change will be implemented from the Bihar Assembly election and is presented as part of the ECI’s recent package of 30-plus procedural reforms.