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A petition filed in the Supreme Court on May 10, 2019, has raised concerns about the Election Commission's delay in publishing voter turnout data and the unusually high revisions made to the data after the first two phases of polling in the Lok Sabha elections.
The petition, filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan, Neha Rathi, and Cheryl D'Souza, highlights the fact that the delay in publishing the voter turnout details and the sharp spike in figures from the initial percentages released by the Election Commission have raised concerns and public suspicion regarding the accuracy of the data.
The plea urges the court to direct the EC to disclose authenticated records of voter turnout by uploading scanned legible copies of the account of votes recorded at polling stations after each phase of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The petition also seeks the publication of constituency and polling station-wise figures of voter turnout in absolute numbers and in percentage form.
The petition further urges the court to direct the ECI to disclose the candidate-wise result of counting after the compilation of results. The petitioners argue that the inordinate delay in the release of final voter turnout data, coupled with the unusually high revision in the EC press note of April 30 and the absence of disaggregated constituency and polling station figures in absolute numbers, have raised concerns and public suspicion regarding the correctness of the data.
The Supreme Court is yet to hear the petition and it is unclear what action the court will take in response to the concerns raised by the petitioners. However, the petition has brought into focus the importance of transparency and accuracy in the conduct of elections and the need for the Election Commission to address public concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
Source: Plea in SC questions EC’s delay in publishing voter turnout data of LS polls