NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday stated that nobody can change data of votes polled, shared on poll day with polling agents of all candidates through Form 17C while welcoming the Supreme Court’s decision to not pass any direction on a plea seeking the uploading of Form 17C data.
ECI emphasized that there has been no delay in the release of voter turnout data.
“Parliamentary constituency-wise voter turnout data was always available to candidates and also 24×7 on the Voter Turnout App for citizens at large,” the ECI said. The Commission independently released parliamentary constituency-wise absolute numbers of voters for all completed phases. This information, discernible by all stakeholders by applying the turnout percentage to total electors, was already publicly available.
The ECI reiterated that the data of votes polled, shared on poll day with polling agents through Form 17C, cannot be changed. Authorized agents of all candidates receive Form 17C across 543 parliamentary constituencies, covering approximately 10.5 lakh polling stations. The poll body expressed that it feels duly strengthened by the Supreme Court’s observations and verdict on the release of turnout data by the Election Commission of India. “This brings upon the Commission a higher responsibility to serve the cause of electoral democracy with undeterred resolution,” the ECI stated.
The ECI clarified that the issuance of press notes is merely facilitative, while full data is always available 24×7 on the Voter Turnout App. The Commission has issued 13 press notes on voter turnout for five phases. Any alleged delay in issuing press notes for the first phase does not imply that the data was unavailable in the public domain through the Voter Turnout App.
On Friday, the Supreme Court declined to pass any direction on a plea seeking the uploading of Form 17C data on the ECI website and the publication of booth-wise voter turnout data. A bench of Justices Dipankar Dutta and Satish Chandra Sharma refused to grant any interim relief to the petitioners, stating that it could not interrupt the polls. The bench noted that with five of the seven-phase elections completed and the sixth phase scheduled for Saturday, a “hands-off” approach is needed in the middle of the election process. The court adjourned the application and informed the petitioner that the interim prayer raised was the same as that of a petition pending since 2019. “Prima facie we are not inclined to grant any interim relief since prayer A of the 2019 petition is similar to prayer B of the 2024 application. List the interim plea after (summer) vacation,” ordered the bench.
The Supreme Court clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case, apart from a prima facie view. The court was hearing an application filed by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) seeking the disclosure of final authenticated data of voter turnout in all polling stations, including the number of votes polled in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, within 48 hours of polling. The ECI reiterated that the issuance of press notes is supplementary, with full data continuously available on the Voter Turnout App.