MPTC, ZPTC counting starts at 8 am at 365 centres: 8,349 seats, 21,012 candidates, 70.72% final turnout

The MPTC, ZPTC counting for rural Andhra Pradesh starts at 8 am on Saturday, 7 November, at 365 centres statewide. State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said 9,062 tables are ready, with 28,692 assistants and 11,002 supervisors to staff them.

The ballots will settle 582 of the 659 ZPTC seats, where 2,169 candidates are in the race, and 7,767 of the 9,821 MPTC seats, where 18,843 are. Another 77 ZPTC and 2,051 MPTC members need no count, having been elected unopposed. Three more MPTC seats, two in YSR Kadapa district and one in Nandyal, had no poll because no valid nomination stood.

Final turnout 70.72%

The State Election Commission’s final figure for Thursday, 5 November, when 577 ZPTC and 7,707 MPTC seats voted, is 70.72%. It replaces the 67.24% the Commission gave on the evening of polling and stands 9.81 percentage points above the 60.91% of the 2021 parishad elections. Visakhapatnam district was highest at 82.51% and Alluri Sitharama Raju lowest at 62.01%.

Voting finished on Friday, 6 November. Five mandals held back by Cyclone Murasu’s rain and floods voted for five ZPTC and 60 MPTC seats: Gopalapuram in East Godavari district and, in Eluru district, Velerupadu, Butteyagudem, Jeelugumilli and Polavaram. Their boxes join the rest in Saturday’s count.

Seven booths in five districts (Anantapur, Kurnool, Srikakulam, Markapuram and Palnadu) also voted again that Friday. The Collectors had asked for fresh polls after booth capturing and damage to ballot boxes, and the Commission agreed. The seven include Marutla and Chitrachedu in Anantapur, Arlabanda in Kurnool and Ponnam in Srikakulam. Punetha said the repoll ended peacefully. A final turnout figure for Friday’s voting was not available when this report was filed.

When and where the results come

Staff take up the postal ballots first. Each box is then emptied, the pink MPTC papers are split from the white ZPTC papers, and both are tied in bundles of 25 and mixed in separate drums. With all of this done by hand, officials estimate at least four hours before the first result, which means noon at the earliest.

Returning officers will declare each result at its counting centre once that count ends, so the totals will build seat by seat from the afternoon onward. Telugu Scope’s live results page will carry them as they are declared, and district and mandal results are also due on the Commission’s website, sec.ap.gov.in. Inspector General B. Rajakumari said 19,885 police will guard the centres in three layers. Gram panchayat elections follow in three phases starting on 26 November.