AT the centre of the raging controversy over the Feb 8 election results are two forms prescribed in Election Rules, 2017: Form-45 is the Result of the [vote] Count prepared by the presiding officer at each polling station and Form-47 is the Provisional Consolidated Statement of results of the vote count of all polling stations in a constituency prepared by the concerned Returning Officer (RO) before including the received postal ballots in the count.

These two and some other associated forms like the Ballot Paper Account of each polling station (Form-46), Consolidated Statement of the Results of the Count Furnished by the Presiding Officers including the count of postal ballots (Form-48) and Final Consolidated Result (Form-49) constitute the backbone of the system of electoral transparency guaranteed by Elections Act, 2017.

Read more here.