Activists urge EC to release booth-wise votes recorded

A group of activists, lawyers and retired civil servants on Thursday, 9 May wrote to the Election Commission of India demanding that all votes recorded at every polling station where voting took place in the first three phases be disclosed.

Asserting that public trust in the electoral process is key to ensure robust functioning of democracy, the activists urged the disclosure of voter turnout numbers of Part-I of form 17 C on the ECI website.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners, they alleged "large fluctuations" in the voter turnout figures in the first two phases of Lok Sabha elections.

The Election Commission last week said that constituency and booth-wise data of actual number of votes polled is available with the candidates.

The letter has been signed by lawyers Prashant Bhushan, Vrinda Grover, activists Anjali Bhardwaj, Vipul Mudgal, Shabnam Hashmi, Amrita Johri, Feroze Mithiborwala, economist Jayati Ghosh, Former Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, retired IAS officer MG Devasahayam, Sundar Burra and Aditi Mehta, retired IFS officers Deb Mukharji and Ashok Sharma, author Sanjay Jha and journalists Umakant Lakhera, and Pamela Philipose.

"We are writing to flag our concerns arising from the large fluctuation in figures of voter turnout in the first two phases of the ongoing general elections and to urge the Election Commission of India to immediately disclose through its website, the authenticated record of voter turnout as contained in Part I of Form 17C," the activists said in the letter.

They said as per Rule 495 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, at the close of polling, the presiding officer has to prepare an account of votes recorded in Part I of Form 17C and also furnish an authenticated copy of this to every polling agent.

The activists said for the first phase of elections, the ECI in its press note on the day of polling (19 April) stated that as of 7 pm, the estimated voter turnout was over 60 per cent. However, the voter turnout data published 11 days later by ECI on April 30, provided a figure of 66.14 percent – a jump of more than 6 per cent, they said.

They added that in the second phase, the press note on the day of polling (26 April) stated that the approximate voter turnout was 60.96 per cent as of 7 pm, which was subsequently revised to 66.71 percent in the press note of 30 April.

"The inordinate delay in the release of voter turnout, coupled with the unusually high revision (of nearly 6 per cent) sans any explanation in the ECI's press note of April 30th, has raised concerns and doubts among people about the voter turnout figures," they said.

"Public trust in the electoral process is key to ensure robust functioning of our democracy. We, therefore, urge the ECI to immediately upload on the Commission's website a scanned legible copy of Part I of Form 17C (Account of Votes Recorded) of every polling station where voting took place in the first three phases,” the letter read.

Further, for the remaining phases, this information must be publicly displayed on the ECI website within 48 hours of the close of polls, they said.

In addition to uploading a scanned copy of the forms, the activists also demanded a tabulation of the constituency and polling station wise figures of voter turnout in absolute numbers to be publicly displayed on the ECI website.

"We hope the ECI will take cognisance of this important issue and urgently take appropriate steps, as outlined above, to enhance transparency and voter confidence in the electoral process," they said.

Opposition parties have also flagged concerns over the delay in release of figures for the first two phases of polls, and have been urging the poll panel to release the absolute number of voter turnout in each constituency.

On Tuesday, 7 May Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had written to leaders of various opposition parties on the issue of alleged "discrepancies" in the voting data released by the EC, and the INDIA bloc leaders are likely to meet the poll panel over the issue as well.

Amid the opposition's allegations, the poll body issued a statement last week, saying it attaches "due importance" to the timely release of voter turnout figures after each phase of the poll.

It said constituency and booth-wise data of actual number of votes polled is available with the candidates, which is a statutory requirement.

"Disclosures and transparency are standard practices in the EC’s work. As per statutory requirements, voter turnout is to be recorded at every polling station in absolute numbers in Form 17C. As a strong measure of transparency, the copies of Form 17C, duly signed by the presiding officer and all present polling agents, are shared with all present polling agents," the EC had said.

The EC officially shared the turnout figure for the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls on 30 April. According to EC figures, a voter turnout of 66.14 per cent was recorded in phase one and 66.71 per cent in phase two of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

For the third phase of voting that took place on Tuesday, the EC's voter turnout app on Wednesday showed that 65.55 per cent voting had occurred.

A press release issued by the EC after the third phase polling also contained the total number of voters in every seat, along with the voting percentage figures.