Tardy counting, inexperienced staff may delay Munugode by-election result

MUNUGODE: Contrary to earlier expectations, the Munugode by-election result is still many hours away due to unforeseen delays, thanks to the tardy pace of counting coupled with inexperienced staff on duty.

A long tea-break of more than 45 minutes was taken after the declaration of the fourth round votes and leads. Though the election authorities did not assign any specific reason why they went for an early and long tea break, it is believed that it was meant for sorting out the issues confronting the counting staff. It came to light that most of the staff on vote-counting duties for the Munugode Assembly by-election were inexperienced and, adding to their misery, they were not imparted sufficient training in handling the crucial exercise.

It is said that the staff were encountering problems even in breaking the seal of the EVMs, thus delaying things beyond the expected time.

As a result, the counting of votes is reported to have slowed down drastically after the first three rounds, during which time the results came out faster. Consequently, it is expected that the entire vote-counting process might be delayed by many hours and it was not likely to have the result by 1 pm, as anticipated earlier.

With 11 more rounds to go, it is felt that, if the vote counting went on at the current pace, then, the result could be available only around 5 pm. But in case it picks up speed again, like how it happened during the first three rounds, the process could be finished by 2:30 pm.

The Munugode election machinery also drew flak from the media for what the latter called 'goofing up frequently with inaccurate updates and figures'.