NEW DELHI: A day after the Supreme Court refused to direct the Election Commission to release polling station-wise voter data recorded in Form 17C, the Election Commission has released the absolute number of voters and votes cast across Assembly constituencies in the first five phases, dispelling “misleading reports” about a “delay” in releasing voter turnout data.
In the first five phases of India’s Lok Sabha elections, 570 million of the country’s more than 763 million eligible voters have cast their ballots, according to data released by the Election Commission on Saturday.
The revision in the format of release of voter turnout data comes amidst Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar questioning the trend of “baseless doubts” being repeatedly raised against the election process. “First, questions are raised about the purity of the electoral roll, then attempts are made to discredit the Election Commission. In the midst of voting, doubts are cast on the voter turnout data,” the Chief Election Commissioner stressed in an interview with TOI after the penultimate phase of voting was concluded. Stating that the electoral process, design and system are well established and are being seriously tracked election after election, the CEC said that polls conducted in around 22-23 states since the 2019 general elections have followed exactly the same process. “We need to study the pattern of raising doubts without any concrete examples only when the Lok Sabha general elections are underway,” he told TOI.
Kumar described the Election Commission’s grievance redressal system as “very robust” and said, “If there are mistakes or failures, they must be pointed out. Creating unfounded doubts in the minds of voters about the electoral process could have an adverse effect on voter turnout.”
The total number of votes polled in a constituency cannot be maliciously altered: Election Commission
The Election Commission on Saturday reiterated that complete data on voters is available to the authorised agents of all candidates as part of Form 17C and copies are given to them after voting. “There are around 1.05 lakh polling stations across the country with around four lakh agents (assuming three to four agents per polling station) and around 8,000 candidates getting all their voting data through Form 17C,” an Election Commission official said. Hence, the total number of votes polled in the constituency as recorded in Form 17C cannot be altered even if someone commits fraud, the commission asserted.
Asked why the electoral total was released only after five phases, Kumar said the Election Commission was waiting for the Supreme Court’s ruling in a related case. “But in reality, the voting data was always available through the Election Commission’s voter count app, even while it was being updated. From the voter turnout percentage released by the Commission and the total number of voters in a constituency, even a sixth-grader can calculate the total number of votes,” he said. As per the voter data, in the first phase, around 110 million out of 166 million total voters voted (66.1%), in the second phase, 160 million out of 159 million total voters voted (66.7%), in the third phase, 113 million out of 172 million total voters voted (65.7%), in the fourth phase, 122 million out of 177 million total voters voted (69.2%) and in the fifth phase, 56 million out of 89 million total voters voted (62.2%).
The commission reiterated that there was no delay in publishing the voter turnout data. It said voter turnout rates would be updated every two hours until 5:30 p.m. on election day. By midnight, the app will show the most accurate “vote closed” data in percentage form. Data will be finalized on the second, third or fourth day of election day, depending on the arrival times at polling stations and re-polling stations.
In the first five phases of India’s Lok Sabha elections, 570 million of the country’s more than 763 million eligible voters have cast their ballots, according to data released by the Election Commission on Saturday.
The revision in the format of release of voter turnout data comes amidst Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar questioning the trend of “baseless doubts” being repeatedly raised against the election process. “First, questions are raised about the purity of the electoral roll, then attempts are made to discredit the Election Commission. In the midst of voting, doubts are cast on the voter turnout data,” the Chief Election Commissioner stressed in an interview with TOI after the penultimate phase of voting was concluded. Stating that the electoral process, design and system are well established and are being seriously tracked election after election, the CEC said that polls conducted in around 22-23 states since the 2019 general elections have followed exactly the same process. “We need to study the pattern of raising doubts without any concrete examples only when the Lok Sabha general elections are underway,” he told TOI.
Kumar described the Election Commission’s grievance redressal system as “very robust” and said, “If there are mistakes or failures, they must be pointed out. Creating unfounded doubts in the minds of voters about the electoral process could have an adverse effect on voter turnout.”
The total number of votes polled in a constituency cannot be maliciously altered: Election Commission
The Election Commission on Saturday reiterated that complete data on voters is available to the authorised agents of all candidates as part of Form 17C and copies are given to them after voting. “There are around 1.05 lakh polling stations across the country with around four lakh agents (assuming three to four agents per polling station) and around 8,000 candidates getting all their voting data through Form 17C,” an Election Commission official said. Hence, the total number of votes polled in the constituency as recorded in Form 17C cannot be altered even if someone commits fraud, the commission asserted.
Asked why the electoral total was released only after five phases, Kumar said the Election Commission was waiting for the Supreme Court’s ruling in a related case. “But in reality, the voting data was always available through the Election Commission’s voter count app, even while it was being updated. From the voter turnout percentage released by the Commission and the total number of voters in a constituency, even a sixth-grader can calculate the total number of votes,” he said. As per the voter data, in the first phase, around 110 million out of 166 million total voters voted (66.1%), in the second phase, 160 million out of 159 million total voters voted (66.7%), in the third phase, 113 million out of 172 million total voters voted (65.7%), in the fourth phase, 122 million out of 177 million total voters voted (69.2%) and in the fifth phase, 56 million out of 89 million total voters voted (62.2%).
The commission reiterated that there was no delay in publishing the voter turnout data. It said voter turnout rates would be updated every two hours until 5:30 p.m. on election day. By midnight, the app will show the most accurate “vote closed” data in percentage form. Data will be finalized on the second, third or fourth day of election day, depending on the arrival times at polling stations and re-polling stations.
