Civil society team writes to EC seeking more clarity in voter turnout figures
New Delhi, May 14 (PTI) A civil society delegation submitted a petition signed by over 4,000 people to the Election Commission on Tuesday, demanding greater transparency in the disclosure of voter turnout figures during the ongoing general elections.
The petition highlighted fluctuations in reported voter turnout figures during the first two phases of the elections.
The letter, which was physically submitted at the poll body's office on Tuesday, said there were discrepancies between initial estimates and later revisions, which have sparked doubts and concerns among the public regarding the accuracy and transparency of the electoral process.
The Election Commission has previously said that constituency and booth-wise data of actual number of votes polled is available with the candidates.
In their letter, the delegation references Rule 49S of the Conduct of Elections Rules, which mandates that the presiding officer at each polling station prepares an account of votes recorded in Part I of Form 17C and provides authenticated copies to polling agents.
Citing specific instances from the first and second phases of polling, the letter pointed out instances where initial turnout estimates of around 60 per cent surged by over 6 per cent later in the official release of the figure. These changes were released without satisfactory explanation from the ECI, it said.
This delay and unexplained revision have fuelled mistrust and raised questions about the reliability of official data, the letter said.
The delegation urged the ECI to take immediate steps to enhance transparency by uploading scanned copies of Part I of Form 17C for all polling stations where voting occurred during the initial phases.
Additionally, they called for the public disclosure of constituency and polling station-wise voter turnout figures within 48 hours of the conclusion of each subsequent phase of elections.
"Public trust in the electoral process is paramount for the health 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. Further, for the remaining phases, this information must be publicly displayed on the ECI website within 48 hours of the close of polls," the letter said.
In addition to uploading a scanned copy of the forms, they demanded that a tabulation of the constituency and polling station-wise figures of voter turnout in absolute numbers must also be publicly displayed on the ECI website.
The petition seeking greater transparency in the electoral process has been endorsed by transparency activists, lawyers, information commissioners, retired civil servants and other memmbers of the civil society, including Shabnam Hashmi, Anjali Bhardwaj, Prashant Bhushan, Najeeb Jung, Tushar A. Gandhi, Jagdeep Chhokar, MG Devasahayam, Yogendra Yadav, Vrinda Grover, Shailesh Gandhi, Ashok Sharma, Amrita Johri, Navsharan Singh, Jayati Ghosh, Vipul Mudgal among others. PTI
