BMC all set for elections today

For the first time, Mumbaiites will see a live update of constituency-wise
vote counting on a 12 ft by 10 ft LCD screen. The screen will be mounted
outside the BMC headquarters at CST on February 1. "The idea is to keep the
public abreast. They have the right to know the status of their mandate,"
said Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Special) VN Kalampatil, in charge of
arrangements on the vote counting day.

The BMC has geared up for the big day also by keeping 10,200 Electronic
Voting Machines (EVMs) ready to be used in the polling process with 300 more
on stand-by. A total of 83,88,455 registered voters will decide the
constitution of the BMC.

To monitor the polling process, the BMC has set up a control room with 30
dedicated phone lines, 24 computers and 12 fax machines, which will be
connected to the officers sitting at 24 wards, giving updates every hour,
from 9 am on Friday. After the updates are received, they will be fed into
the computer and reconfirmed by a fax that will be sent by the returning
officer of respective wards.

"Finally, the results will be declared in the Standing Committee meeting
hall, which is open for the press and the candidates," said Kalampatil.



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