District Panchayat Election Officer (DPEO) Pulwama, Dr Raghav Langer today chaired a meeting of contesting candidates of DDC elections and briefed them about various aspects regarding counting of votes to be held on 22 December, 2020 here.The DPEO assured the concerned that the counting of votes shall be conducted in a free and transparent environment as per the instructions of the State Election Commission (SEC).He informed that counting shall begin at all strong rooms across the district at 9:00 am sharp and added that the counting of ballot papers shall be taken on a round-wise basis after proper mixing of the ballot papers of different polling stations as per prescribed procedure and counting guidelines.Meanwhile, it was informed that the entire counting exercise will be monitored and recorded to achieve full transparency.The DPEO appealed to all contesting candidates to extend their full cooperation to the counting staff during the counting process and added that Returning Officers will be incharge of the counting process for each DDC Constituency.He further said that all the arrangements have been put in place with regard to counting halls and the requisite staff.The meeting was attended by Additional Deputy Commissioners Pulwama, Tral and Awantipora, SP Pulwama Ashish Mishra Deputy District election officer, Returning Officers, Observers, Contesting Candidates of various political parties, independent candidates and other concerned officers and officials.