No mobile phone, cameras inside counting centres: Election Commission

The Election Commission on Thursday issued the guidelines on security arrangements for strong rooms and counting centres, and prohibited entry of mobile phones inside the counting halls.

In a detailed set of do's and don'ts, the Commission said three-tier cordoning system should be set up in all the counting premises to prevent the entry of any unauthorised persons.

The 100-metre area around a counting premise or campus should be demarcated as pedestrian zone and no vehicles shall be allowed within this perimeter, it said.

There should be a smooth flow of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) between the respective strong rooms where polled machines are kept in the counting halls.

"A proper barricading of the path used for this purpose should be done so that the transportation from strong room to the counting hall of an Assembly Constituency is not interrupted by the presence of the non-officials and the media persons."Trespassing through the barricade by any unauthorised person should be duly eliminated," it said.

Polling for state Assembly elections of 5 states-- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur-- have recently concluded and counting will take place on Saturday.

"No camera - still or video of the media (except the official video camera for officially recording the entire counting process) is allowed to be fixed inside any counting hall. No camera stand should, therefore, be allowed to be taken inside the counting halls by the media and journalists," the guidelines said.