All preparations are on for counting of votes tomorrow in the Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls to 4 states – Arunachal Pradesh,Odisha,Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh.

In all about 8000 thousand candidates are in the fray 543 Lok Sabha seats. Election Commission says, votes polled in the nine-phased Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly polls will be taken up at 8 AM with postal ballots first and EVMs later.

The counting is likely to be completed by 5 PM but trends will be available by 11 AM or before. By noon, a final picture could emerge on who would be the major players in the 16th Lok Sabha. The Commission said counting will be taken up in 989 centres.

This is the first time the option of 'none of the above' or NOTA has been introduced on the EVMs following Supreme Court directions. Wherever a paper trail audit or 'voter-verified paper audit trail' (VVPAT) has been used, the counting agent can call for a count of the paper slips in the drop box attached to the voting machine, but a final count is taken by the returning officer.

Top leaders including Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal are in the fray, in the largest-ever electoral exercise held in Indian history.

Lok Sabha elections 2014 witnessed the highest-ever turnout with 66.38 per cent of an estimated 814 million voters exercising their franchise – the highest ever in the history
of general elections.