Counting begins for rural local bodies in Andhra Pradesh

HYDERABAD: The counting of votes for rural local bodies in undivided Andhra Pradesh has begun across the state today.

The exercise is a time-consuming process as ballot papers were used for the April 6 polls instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and most of the results are expected to be out only by tonight.

According to AP State Election Commission (APSEC) sources, over 2,000 counting centres have been set up for the manual counting of votes for 16,589 Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs) and 1,096 Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs).

About 465 MPTCs and three ZPTCs have been elected unopposed, sources said.