Section 66 in The M.P. Nagarpalika Nirvachan Niyam, 1994
66. Counting of Election Duty (E.D.) ballot papers.
(1)The Returning Officer shall first deal with the E.D. ballot papers in the manner hereinafter provided.(2)No envelope in Form 19-B received by the Returning Officer after the expiry of the time fixed in that behalf shall be opened and no ballot paper contained in any such cover shall he counted.(3)The other covers shall he opened one after another and as each cover is opened, the Returning Officer shall first scrutinise the declaration in Form 19-C contained therein.(4)If the said declaration is not found, or has not been duly signed and attested, or is defective or if the serial number of the ballot paper as entered in it differs from the serial number endorsed on the envelope in Form 19-A that cover shall not be opened, and after making an appropriate endorsement thereon, the Returning Officer shall reject the ballot paper therein contained.(5)Each cover so endorsed and the declaration received with it shall be replaced in the outer envelope in Form 19-B and all such envelopes shall be kept in a separate packet which shall be sealed and on which shall be recorded the number and name, if any, of the ward, the date of counting and a brief description of its content.(6)The Returning Officer shall then place all the declaration in Form 19-C which he has found to be in order in a separate packet which shall be sealed before any envelope in Form 19-A is opened and on which shall be recorded the particulars referred to in sub-rule (5).(7)The smaller envelopes in Form 19-A not already dealt with under the foregoing provisions of this rule shall then be opened one after another and the Returning Officer shall scrutinise each ballot paper and decide the validity of the vote recorded thereon.(8)An E.D. ballot paper shall be rejected-(a)if it bears any mark, other than the mark to record the vole oi writing by which the voter can be identified;(b)if no vote is recorded thereon; or(c)if votes are given on it in favour of more candidates than one; or(d)if it is a spurious ballot paper; or(e)if it is so damaged or mutilated that its identity as a genuine ballot paper cannot be established; or(f)if it is not returned in the cover sent alongwith it to the voter by the Returning Officer;(g)if the mark indicating the vote is placed on the ballot paper in such manner as to make it doubtful to which candidate the vole has been given.(9)A vote recorded on an E.D. ballot paper shall not be rejected merely on the ground that the mark indicating the vote is indistinct or made more than once, if the intention that the vote shall be for a particular candidate clearly appears from the way the paper is marked.(10)The Returning Officer shall count all the valid votes given in favour of each candidate, record the total thereof in the result sheet in Form 20 and announce the same.(11)Thereafter, all the valid ballot papers and all the rejected ballot papers shall be separately bundled and kept together in packet which shall be sealed with the seals of the Returning Officer and of such of the candidates, their election agents or counting agents as may desire to affix their seals thereon and on the packet so sealed shall be recorded the number and name, if any, of the ward, the date of counting and a brief description of its contents.
