Recently, Andhra Pradesh’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Mukesh Kumar Meena passed a memo saying that postal ballot votes will be considered valid even if they don’t have a seal.
The ruling YSR Congress Party opposed this decision, stating that it was against the guidelines of the Election Commission.
The party’s MP Niranjan Reddy also complained to the Chief Election Commissioner of India, Rajiv Kumar, requesting to revoke the order. A Lunch Motion Petition was also filed at the AP High Court.
However, the ECI gave a shocker to YCP today by supporting the CEO’s decision. Rubbishing the YCP’s objections, the ECI’s Principal Secretary Avinash Kumar wrote a letter to Mukesh Kumar Meena. In the letter, the ECI clarified that there is nothing wrong with the CEO’s decision.
It stated that postal ballot votes would be considered valid even if they didn’t have a seal. The ECI asked all Returning Officers to follow these guidelines while counting the postal ballot votes.
The AP assembly and Lok Sabha election votes will be counted on June 4. First, the postal ballot votes would be counted and the EVM votes would follow. Mukesh Kumar Meena stated that all necessary arrangements are being made to ensure the smooth counting process.
