ECI Welcomes Supreme Court's Decision, Blasts "False Narratives"

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to not pass any direction regarding a plea that sought all data of Form 17C to be uploaded asserting that it is not possible to change data of votes polled, shared on poll day with polling agents of all candidates through Form 17C.

The ECI said that that has observed a pattern going on to create "false narratives and mischievous design to vitiate electoral process". There has been no delay in the release of voter turnout data, it further said.

"Parliamentary constituency-wise voter turnout data was always available with candidates and also 24x7 on Voter Turnout APP for citizens at large," mentioned the poll body.

The Election Commission independently released the Parliamentary Constituency-wise absolute number of voters for all completed phases. This information, which could already be calculated by stakeholders using turnout percentages and total electors publicly available, underscores the EC’s commitment to transparency.

The EC emphasized that the data on votes polled, as recorded in Form 17C and shared with polling agents on the poll day, is immutable. Form 17C, which is distributed to authorized agents of all candidates, is available across all 543 Parliamentary Constituencies and roughly 1.05 million polling stations.

Bolstered by the Supreme Court’s recent observations and verdict on the release process of turnout data, the EC reaffirmed its enhanced responsibility to uphold electoral democracy with unwavering resolve.

The Commission clarified that while press notes serve as additional facilitation, complete data has been continuously accessible via the Voter Turnout app. Despite claims of delayed press notes for the first phase, data was always available to the public in real-time through this app. To date, the EC has issued 13 press notes covering voter turnout across five phases.

On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to issue directives on a plea for the online publication of Form 17C data and booth-wise voter turnout. The bench, comprising Justices Dipankar Dutta and Satish Chandra Sharma, denied interim relief, noting the ongoing election process and scheduled sixth phase on Saturday. The court maintained a "hands-off" approach during elections, adjourning the application to a later date.

The bench highlighted that the interim plea’s request mirrored a pending 2019 petition. Therefore, they postponed the interim plea until after the summer vacation, stating that no opinions were expressed on the case’s merits aside from a preliminary view.

The Supreme Court was addressing a plea from the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) that sought the disclosure of authenticated voter turnout data, including the number of votes polled in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, within 48 hours of polling. The EC reiterated that press notes are supplementary, with comprehensive data perpetually available on the Voter Turnout app.

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