Counting of votes to be done on 56 tables; 1st training of employees held

Aurangabad: The counting of votes in Marathwada Teachers Constituency election will be held on 56 tables at Marathwada Realtors Pvt Ltd, opposite Kalagram, on February 2.

A total of 53,257 voters turned up in the eight districts of the region for the voting. Nearly 700 officers and employees would be pressed into the services of counting.

A total of 300 ballot boxes from 225 polling students were brought to the counting centres by Tuesday morning.

The fate of 14 candidates was sealed on Monday. The counting will commence at 8 am on Thursday.

All the votes will be mixed in one place and later, bunches of 25 votes will be made. A total of 40 bunches will be kept at one table. The counting will be done on 56 tables. The votes will be sorted on the basis of preference.

A quota of total valid votes will be fixed. The machinery has geared up for the counting.

The first training of the appointed staff was completed while the second training will be conducted at the counting centre on February 1. Facilities from the counting point of view, including cells for counting, observers, security and media, arrangements of electricity and lighting and counting table, and sections for the candidates' meeting, were made.

No one can carry a mobile phone to the counting cell. The officers and employees should carry identity cards and must remain in the allotted section. The election administration said that the counting representatives appointed by the candidates should not leave their place.

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14 candidates in fray

There are 14 candidates in the fray, some are supported by BJP, NCP, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), and Marathwada Shikshak Sangh (MSS) while the remaining are independent. The names of the candidates are as follows sitting MLC Vikram Kale (NCP), Kiran Patil (BJP), Kalidas Mane (VBA), Suryakant Vishwasrao (MSS), Pradeep Solunke, Manoj Patil, Sanjay Tayde, Qadri Shahed Abuld Gafoor, Aniket Waghchaure, Nitin Kulkarni, Vishal Nandarkar, Ashwinkumar Kshirsagar, Ashish Deshmukh and Dnyanoba Dukre. There were 20 candidates in the fray in 2017.