The Election Commission of India on Sunday advanced the date of the counting of votes for the Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim Assembly polls to June 2 after it realised that the terms of both Assemblies expire on that date.

Both states will vote on April 19.

Votes in the parliamentary constituencies of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will, however, be counted on June 4 as fixed.

The EC is legally obligated to complete the election process before the legislature terms expire. It also cannot announce results when polling in any other state is in progress as it may exert undue influence on voters and election officials.

The seventh phase of polling is on June 1 and counting for the two Assemblies has therefore been scheduled for the very next day — cutting it fine for the EC, which is banking on the fact that the seats in these two states have fewer voters due to their lower-than-average population density.

Last year, the counting of votes for the Mizoram Assembly elections had to be postponed as it was initially scheduled on a Sunday — a holy day for the Christian-majority state.