In the panchayat elections, there were complaints that the ruling YCP has caused inordinate delays in the counting process so as to commit midnight irregularities. The police and the election officials waited till late night when the actual results were manipulated to favour the YCP candidates.

Apparently to prevent such illegalities, State Election Commissioner Ramesh Kumar has issued strict orders just a few hours ahead of the counting for the municipal elections. He has ordered the election officials not to delay the counting process under any circumstances. The results should be announced by 8 p.m. on Sunday. In the panchayat elections, counting manipulations took place around 12 midnight and 1 a.m.

Also, Ramesh has ordered the election officials to ensure uninterrupted power supply at the counting centres. Generators and inverters should be made available as an alternative if there would be power cuts.

In addition to that, the SEC ordered for taking up reconting only when the majority was less than 10 votes. It happened in the panchayat polls that the officials opted for recounting even though the majorities were more than 10.

Ramesh has also ordered mandatory coverage of the counting process with the help of CCTV cameras, videography or web casting.