Election Commission has issued guidelines on security arrangements for strong rooms and counting centres, and prohibited entry of mobile phones inside the counting halls. <br/><br/>The Commission said three-tier cordoning system should be set up in all the counting premises to prevent the entry of any unauthorised persons. Polling for state Assembly elections of 5 states – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur have recently concluded and counting will take place tomorrow. <br/><br/>AIR correspondent reports that as part of the three-tier security arrangements, adequate local police force should be stationed at first point of entry to check the identity of the persons seeking entry in the counting premises. A senior Magistrate will be posted at the entrance to control the crowd and regulate the entry. <br/><br/>Election commission has said, 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. Additional CCTV camera will be installed at such locations from where the carrying of EVMs from strong rooms to the counting hall can be recorded for effective monitoring. No camera, still or video of the media except the official video camera for recording the entire counting process is allowed inside any counting hall. <br/><br/>The strong rooms should have only one entry point and double lock system. Other entry points of the strong rooms including windows should be properly sealed, so that no one can have access inside the rooms.

Election Commission has issued guidelines on security arrangements for strong rooms and counting centres, and prohibited entry of mobile phones inside the counting halls. <br/><br/>The Commission said three-tier cordoning system should be set up in all the counting premises to prevent the entry of any unauthorised persons. Polling for state Assembly elections of 5 states – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur have recently concluded and counting will take place tomorrow. <br/><br/>AIR correspondent reports that as part of the three-tier security arrangements, adequate local police force should be stationed at first point of entry to check the identity of the persons seeking entry in the counting premises. A senior Magistrate will be posted at the entrance to control the crowd and regulate the entry. <br/><br/>Election commission has said, 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. Additional CCTV camera will be installed at such locations from where the carrying of EVMs from strong rooms to the counting hall can be recorded for effective monitoring. No camera, still or video of the media except the official video camera for recording the entire counting process is allowed inside any counting hall. <br/><br/>The strong rooms should have only one entry point and double lock system. Other entry points of the strong rooms including windows should be properly sealed, so that no one can have access inside the rooms.

Election Commission has issued the guidelines on security arrangements for strong rooms and counting centres, and prohibited entry of mobile phones inside the counting halls. <br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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. <br/><br/>Polling for state Assembly elections of 5 states ' Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur – have recently concluded and counting will take place tomorrow.<br/><br/>As part of the three-tier security arrangements, adequate local police force should be stationed at first point of entry to check the identity of the persons seeking entry in the counting premises. <br/><br/>A senior Magistrate shall be posted at the entrance to control the crowd and regulate the entry, the Commission said.<br/><br/>The second-tier and the middle cordon will be at the gate of the counting premise and it will be manned by the armed police of the state concerned.<br/><br/><br/>The third and the inner cordon shall be at the door of thecounting hall. This will be manned largely by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). There will be frisking arrangements at this stage, too so as to ensure that no mobile phones and other prohibited items are carried inside the counting hall, the EC said.<br/><br/>These latest guidelines have been issued to strengthen the overall electoral process, it said.<br/>