The strongroom is unlocked under the supervision of the Election Commission and the protection of central forces by 7.30am.

The EVMs are brought to the counting hall by commission officials, with personnel of central forces keeping a watch, by 7.45am.

The EVMs are placed according to serial numbers on pre-assigned counting tables by 8am. Seating arrangements are made for the counting officials in such a way that they can clearly watch the EVM and its display.

The counting is done by designated counting officials, under the supervision of the returning officer, the assistant returning officer, candidates and their agents, other election officials and personnel of the central forces.

The postal ballots are counted between 8am and 8.30am.

The EVM counting begins at 8.30am. Each EVM records votes polled in one booth, around 1,200 or less.

It usually takes less than a minute to unlock an EVM. When the result button is unsealed and pressed, its display shows the number of votes polled and the votes in favour of each candidate in alphabetic order. The votes are recorded by counting officials. The EVM is then sent to the returning officer for further checks.

During ballot paper days, each paper represented a vote and used to be counted by hand. One ballot box took nearly half an hour to be counted.

The first round of counting usually takes around 45 minutes, subsequent rounds about 15 minutes each. One round means counting of votes recorded in a set of upto 14 EVMs. Counting in first round takes longer because of formalities. Counting for each constituency usually comprises between 11 and 24 rounds.

At the end of each round, the result of that round and the progressive total is announced. The result is compiled by summing up the round-wise totals.

The details are handed out to candidates and their polling agents after each round.

The results of each round go through seven levels of cross-checking to eliminate all doubt.

Details are shared with candidates and their polling agents, who cannot touch the EVMs, so that objections are not raised later.

The votes are stored permanently in the memory chip of the EVM until it is intentionally cleared to ready the machine for another election. Removing the machine’s battery does not affect its memory.

The manufacturers of the EVMs have developed an auxiliary display unit, where the results can be seen most of the time if the original display fails.

Earlier there was a system of mixing ballot papers so that the voting preference in a particular polling station is not known.

A device called Totaliser has been developed by the manufacturers of the EVMs. It can be connected to several control units at a time. It will indicate the total number of votes polled at each station where these EVMs had been used as well as the grand total. The number of votes polled by each candidate will, however, be shown for the whole group of polling stations at which the EVMs were used and not for individual polling stations making it impossible to know the pattern of voting at a particular polling station.

After cross-checks and formalities, results are formally declared after approximately eight hours. The actual counting does not usually take more than six hours. Webcams will record the process for the first time this year.