Ensure strong security for ballot boxes, officials told

District Collector K Vetri Selvi inspected the strong room where ballot boxes from the MLC Graduate Constituency elections are being secured at the CR Reddy Engineering College campus on Thursday. Accompanied by revenue and police officials, she reviewed the security arrangements for the strong room.
The Collector instructed officials to ensure stringent security for the ballot boxes. She noted that polling for the Graduate MLC constituency elections, covering the combined East and West Godavari districts, was conducted across six districts. The ballot boxes from these areas will be brought to the counting centre in Eluru.
With the counting of votes scheduled for March 3, the Collector emphasised the need for foolproof security in the strong room until then. The counting process will commence at 8 am on March 3. She directed the staff at the ballot box reception centre to thoroughly inspect the seals on the boxes upon receipt, after which the strong room staff should place them in their designated locations.
Counters will be set up at polling stations for ballot box collection, and staff are required to take only the boxes assigned to them. Help desks have also been arranged for assistance. ]
The Collector instructed officials to ensure the availability of drinking water at the ballot box reception centre and to provide food and snacks regularly to the counting staff.
Later, she inspected the CCTV monitoring centre established for security at the counting venue and reviewed the table arrangements for the counting process.
Joint Collector P. Dhatri Reddy, DRO V. Visveswara Rao, RDOs Achyut Ambarish, and Eluru Municipal Corporation Commissioner Bhanu Pratap were among those present.