Kochi, March 7 -- Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, on Saturday, said that the electors in Kerala will be allowed to carry their mobile phones till the gate of the polling station, and EVMs will carry a colour photo of candidates.

Addressing a press conference in Kerala following two days of poll preparedness, CEC Gyanesh Kumar announced that postal ballots will be counted two rounds before EVMs and there will be mandatory counting of VVPAT slips in case of a mismatch between Form 17C and EVM data.

Noting new initiatives by the Election Commission for "ease of voting," he said, "Electors will be allowed to carry their mobile phones till the gate of the polling station. In order to enable the electors to select candidates ...