SC asks ECI to consider representation on voter turnout

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to examine the issue of disclosure of the authenticated record of voter turnout on its official website within 48 hours after each phase of polling in Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.

A bench, headed by CJI Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan, was dealing with a plea seeking a direction to the poll body to provide a tabulation of the constituency and polling station-wise figures of voter turnout in absolute numbers and in percentage after each phase of polling.

During the hearing, senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing on behalf of the poll body, suggested that the petitioners could meet the newly appointed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) for redressal of their grievances.

In view of the ECI’s submission, the CJI Khanna-led Bench deferred the hearing and asked the poll body to examine the petitioners’ representation.

Directing the petitioners to make a representation before ECI within 10 days, the apex court posted the matter for the next hearing in the week commencing July 28.

The plea was filed against the backdrop of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the data, as published by the ECI in its press release dated April 30, 2024, showed a “sharp increase (by about 5-6 per cent) as compared to the initial percentages announced by ECI, as of 7 p.m. on the day of polling”.

“It is submitted that the inordinate delay in the release of final voter turnout data, coupled with the unusually high revision (of over 5 per cent) in the ECI’s press note of April 30, 2024, and the absence of disaggregated constituency and polling station figures in absolute numbers, has raised concerns and public suspicion regarding the correctness of the said data,” the plea said.

Referring to the voter turnout data published by the poll body on April 30, 2024, for the first two phases, after 11 days of the first phase of polling held on April 19, and 4 days after the second phase of polling held on April 26, the plea claimed “dereliction of duty” on part of the ECI in declaring election results (of the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies through Electronic Voting Machines), based on accurate and indisputable data which is put in the public domain.

The application added that these apprehensions must be addressed and put to rest, and in order to uphold the voter’s confidence, it is necessary that the ECI be directed to disclose on its website scanned legible copies of Form 17C Part- I (Account of Votes Recorded) of all polling stations which contains the authenticated figures for votes polled, within 48 hours of the close of polling.

In an affidavit filed before the top court, the ECI said that disclosing the scanned legible copies of accounts of votes recorded at all polling stations would cause “chaos” in the election machinery. The poll body added that the voter turnout App continuously keeps reflecting data on a live basis, and on the other hand, Form 17C is given to agents of candidates after the close of poll on polling day itself as per the statutory requirement.

IANS