The Election Commission (EC) has declined to provide voter turnout data to any person other than electoral candidates or their agents, citing a lack of legal mandate. This decision came in response to an application filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which sought to disclose authenticated records of voter turnout by uploading scanned copies of Form 17C on the EC website after each phase of polling in the General Elections 2024.
The ADR had alleged an inordinate delay in publishing voter turnout details, followed by a sharp spike in figures from the initial voter turnout percentages released by the EC. This development, according to the ADR, had rung alarm bells about the authenticity of the polling data available in the public domain and raised suspicions about whether the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were switched.
However, the EC countered that the ADR was merely trying to “create an entitlement in the middle of the election period”. It said the statutory mandate required Form 17C to be shared only with candidates and their agents. The EC also highlighted that it was a voluntary and “non-statutory” initiative to disclose the voter turnout through its voter turnout app, website, and various press releases.
The EC further argued that the publication of voter turnout data on its app was merely facilitative and that the figures were secondary and provisional. It also pointed out that some polling stations are situated in far-flung places, which would take time to transport EVMs and accounts of votes recorded to the Returning Officer’s base offices.
The EC accused the ADR of suppressing the information that the Supreme Court had upheld the EVM system in a judgment on April 26 and that the issue of Form 17C and its various aspects had been discussed in that case. The EC also emphasized that the General Elections were entering their last two phases and had so far been held smoothly, and that petitions intended to create suspicion in public minds or impede the conduct of the process and conclusion of elections by the EC ought to be rejected at the outset.
