In May 2024, during the Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court heard a petition by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The petition sought the publication of Form 17C (Part 1), which records booth-wise voter turnout data, on the Election Commission (EC) website within 48 hours of polling.
Election Commission's Stand
The EC refused the demand, stating that:
It is only legally required to share Form 17C with polling agents, not the public or media.
Opposition parties later raised concerns over discrepancies in voter turnout and vote counts.
The new Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is now open to discussions with ADR and MP Mahua Moitra.
What is Form 17C?
A two-part form mandated by the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961:
Part 1:
Records voter turnout for each polling station.
Filled by the presiding officer and signed by polling agents.
Includes details like:
EVM identification number, total electors, votes cast, and discrepancies, if any.
Sealed and sent to the returning officer.
Part 2:
Records vote count on counting day.
Filled by the returning officer after pressing the EVM’s “result” button.
Checks for discrepancies between votes polled and votes counted.
Signed by the returning officer, counting supervisor, and candidates' agents.
Why is the Opposition Demanding Immediate Online Publication?
ADR analysis (July 2024) found:
Only 5 out of 543 constituencies had a perfect match between votes polled and votes counted.
362 seats: Vote count 5.5 lakh fewer than votes polled.
176 seats: 35,000 extra votes counted compared to votes polled.
Concerns raised:
Discrepancies could indicate errors or manipulation.
Delayed final voter turnout figures (e.g., Phase 1 figures were published 11 days late and showed a 5% increase from initial numbers).
EC publishes voter turnout as a percentage, while Form 17C records absolute numbers.
Publishing booth-wise data ensures transparency and accountability.
Challenges in current process:
Not all political parties can deploy polling agents in every booth.
Polling agents may be absent, compromised, or belong only to the ruling party.
Voters also have the right to access this data.
Election Commission’s Concerns
Possible chaos and misinformation:
Fear that Form 17C images could be morphed and cause unrest.
Polling involves over 1 crore officials, many of whom are under high stress and prone to errors.
Errors in Form 17C are later rectified by election observers using supporting documents, which takes several days.
Political parties already have access to Form 17C via their polling agents and can publish it themselves.
Disciplinary concerns:
Mistakes could lead to unjustified punishment of election officials.
Polling agents may shift blame onto the EC instead of addressing their own lapses.
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