[BREAKING] Voter Turnout Data | CJI Chandrachud Agrees to Hear Plea on ECI’s Delay in Publishing Data

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud Today (May 17th) agreed to hear urgently at the end of the day an application filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms alleging inordinate delay in the publication of voter turnout data of the first two phases of polling in the Lok Sabha elections.

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NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud agreed to urgently hear a plea by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms regarding the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) delay in publishing voter turnout data for the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections.

The plea, which raises concerns about the authenticity of the polling data, is scheduled to be heard at the end of the day.

The NGO highlighted significant delays in publishing voter turnout details, with initial percentages released by the ECI showing sharp spikes in figures. This discrepancy has raised public concerns about the polling data’s authenticity. According to the NGO, the voter turnout data for the first two phases was published on April 30, 11 days after the first phase of polling on April 19 and four days after the second phase on April 26.

Chief Justice Chandrachud acknowledged the urgency and agreed to hear the application after the board of cases for the day. He instructed EC counsel, advocate Amit Sharma, to take instructions and stated,

“The court too needed time to go through the application.”

Mr. Prashant Bhushan, representing the NGO, mentioned that the application was initially presented on May 13 before a Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna. He noted,

“I don’t know why it was listed in the mentioning list.”

The application urged the court to direct the EC to disclose authenticated voter turnout records by uploading scanned legible copies of the account of votes recorded at polling stations after each voting phase.

As per Rules 49S and 56C (2) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, presiding officers are required to prepare an account of votes in form 17C (Part I), and returning officers must record the number of votes in favor of each candidate.

Furthermore, the petition requested the publication of constituency and polling station-wise voter turnout figures in both absolute numbers and percentage form. It also called for the candidate-wise result of counting to be disclosed after compiling the results.

The NGO’s plea pointed out that the voter turnout data published by the ECI on April 30 showed a significant increase (by about 5-6%) from the initial percentages announced on polling days. On April 19, after the first phase of polling, the ECI reported a tentative voter turnout of over 60% across 21 states and UTs as of 7 pm. Similarly, after the second phase on April 26, the turnout was reported at 60.96%.

The petition stated,

“The inordinate delay in the release of final voter turnout data, coupled with the unusually high revision (of over 5%) in the EC press note of April 30 and the absence of disaggregated constituency and polling station figures in absolute numbers, has raised concerns and public suspicion regarding the correctness of the data… These apprehensions must be addressed and put to rest.”

The court’s decision to hear the plea underscores the importance of transparency in the electoral process. The NGO’s application aims to ensure that voter turnout data is promptly and accurately published, thus maintaining public trust in the electoral system.

Click Here to Read Previous Reports on Voter Turnout Data

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