Supreme Court Asks Election Commission to Consider Disclosure of Booth-Wise Voter Turnout Data

Petition Seeks Final and Authenticated Data Within 48 Hours After Each Polling Phase

Supreme Court’s Request

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court requested the Election Commission (EC) to examine a petition seeking the disclosure of final and authenticated booth-wise voter turnout data within 48 hours after each phase of polling.

Petitioners and Their Demands

The petition was filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-governmental organization, and Mahua Moitra, a Trinamool Congress MP. They sought directions for the EC to upload scanned and legible copies of Form 17C (Part I) on its website.

Form 17C and Its Importance

According to the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, presiding officers are required to prepare an account of votes recorded in Form 17C (Part I) and record the number of votes in favor of each candidate.

Election Commission’s Response

Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, representing the EC, noted that a new chief election commissioner had been appointed and suggested that the petitioners could meet him to discuss their grievances.

New Chief Election Commissioner

Gyanesh Kumar was appointed the chief election commissioner on February 17.

Supreme Court’s Directions

The court asked the petitioners to make a representation to the EC within ten days. The case was listed for hearing on July 28.

Background of the Petition

The petition was filed in May 2024 amid a controversy over the discrepancy in the final voter turnout percentage for the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections and the provisional polling estimates released by the EC earlier.

Discrepancies in Voter Turnout Data

The final figures published on April 30, 2024, were significantly higher than the provisional polling estimates. The delay in the release of final voter turnout data and the absence of disaggregated constituency and polling station figures in absolute numbers raised concerns and public suspicion regarding the correctness of the data.

ADR’s Demands

• Direction for the EC to upload copies of Form 17C (Part I) from all polling stations immediately after the voting concludes in each phase of the elections.
• Tabulated voter turnout data from each constituency and polling station in absolute numbers.
• Direction to the EC to upload scanned legible copies of Form 17C (Part II), which would contain the candidate-wise result of counting after the compilation of results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

EC’s Response to ADR’s Demands

The EC filed an affidavit in the court stating that there was no legal right that could be claimed for publishing the final voter turnout in all polling stations.

Arguments by Advocates

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing ADR, told the bench that there was a huge discrepancy in the votes recorded by the Election Voting Machines and the ones who actually came to vote. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Moitra, added that the EC should explain the discrepancy in the final list published and the ones who voted. Singhvi also asked why the EC could not scan and disclose Form 17C (Part II) and suggested that they wanted to avoid the macro picture and analysis.