NEW DELHI:
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday opposed a plea demanding the immediate disclosure of authenticated voter turnout records in the wake of alleged delays in publishing data for the first two phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, arguing that such a request is not maintainable at this stage of the election process and would potentially disrupt the orderly conduct of the elections.
Submitting its affidavit two days ahead of the scheduled hearing in the top court, ECI raised a series of Supreme Court rulings stating that any petition that may have the impact of either creating a suspicion or impeding the conduct of the process and conclusion of elections would deserve to be rejected at the threshold itself.
ECI emphasised its commitment to conducting elections transparently and efficiently, highlighting that the Indian electoral process is often looked up to by other democracies, while suggesting that there were certain elements who keep on throwing baseless and false allegations, creating unwarranted atmosphere of suspicion in close proximity of time of conduct of every election.
The affidavit claimed there were logistical and practical challenges in complying with one of the petitioner’s demands — that turnout figures recorded by the polling agents at the close of polling in Form 17C, which is then used to declare results, be uploaded online.
“The legal regime with regard to Form 17C is peculiar that while it authorises the polling agent at the close of the poll to get a copy of Form 17C, a general disclosure of the nature as sought by the petitioner is not provided in the statutory framework,” ECI said, asserting that the current procedures and disclosures are sufficient and legally mandated. It added that Form 17C is never uploaded immediately after polling.
ECI pointed out that a wholesome disclosure of Form 17C is amenable to mischief and vitiation of entire electoral space, adding the original Form 17C is only available in the strong room and a copy only with the polling agents whose signature it bears.
“Indiscriminate disclosure, public posting on the website increases the possibility of the images being morphed, including the counting results which then can create widespread public discomfort and mistrust in the entire electoral processes,” claimed ECI.
Addressing allegations of delays and discrepancies in publishing voter turnout data, ECI stated that the data available on the “Voter Turnout App” is provisional and non-statutory, intended for transparency and public facilitation. “The voter turnout data, as available on the ‘Voter Turnout App’ (non-statutory), is only tentative or provisional in nature and through the secondary source. On the other hand, the votes counted are reported as per the statutorily created mechanisms,” the affidavit said.
