PANAJI
The fate of 402 candidates will be known on Monday when counting of votes of all the wards of the five municipalities of Margao, Mapusa, Mormugao, Sanguem and Quepem will be taken up at their respective locations in the State.
While the counting process will begin at 8 am, the results are expected to be a little delayed due to the strict SOPs including social distancing announced by the administration.
Counting of votes at bigger municipalities like Margao and Mormugao is expected to continue till 5 pm, while smaller municipalities like Mapusa, Sanguem and Quepem will also take quite more than the usual time.
In a single phase, counting of votes will be taken up from 4 wards at a stretch and is expected to take a minimum of one-and-half hour for each phase. There will six such phases of counting for Margao municipal council.
The government has made elaborate arrangements for counting with strict guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid during the counting process. The counting will be done phase-wise with a counting set of wards for every one-and-half hour.
Only the candidate and his agent will be allowed at the respective counting hall.
For Sanguem municipality, the counting will be taken up in two phases. Both the Collectors on Sunday conducted meetings with respective leaders and instructed them to strictly adhere to social distancing norms.
In Mapusa, a total of 81 candidates including 40 Independents are seeking to get elected as councilors in Mapusa Municipal Council.
