Overview
- Kerala’s chief electoral officer on Tuesday ordered that no strongrooms or unsealed rooms at counting centres be opened before the May 4 tally.
- The directive followed a Monday incident in Kozhikode where officials opened an unsealed records room near the strongroom to verify entries for ENCORE, the Election Commission’s results portal, using presiding officers’ diaries known as Form 17A.
- Election officials said the strongroom with EVMs and VVPATs stayed sealed under central guard with party agents on watch, while the Congress-led UDF called it a breach and lodged protests and complaints.
- Kozhikode’s district collector reported procedural lapses by the Perambra returning officer and said an inquiry into the records-room access is underway.
- In Palakkad, authorities dropped a plan to open a materials room for the Nenmara seat after objections, and a separate CCTV outage complaint in Guruvayur added pressure for tighter safeguards before counting.