The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): The Election Commission (EC) has opposed an NGO’s plea in the Supreme Court to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of each phase of the Lok Sabha elections. The EC argued that such an action would “vitiate” the electoral space and create “chaos” within the election machinery during the ongoing general elections.
A vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma is set to hear the plea from the ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR). The NGO has also requested the EC to upload scanned legible copies of Form 17C Part-I (Account of Votes Recorded) from all polling stations immediately after the polls.
In its counter affidavit, the EC stated there is no legal mandate to provide Form 17C to anyone other than the candidate or their agent. Publicly posting Form 17C, which details the number of votes polled at each polling station, is not required by law and could lead to manipulation and disruption of the electoral process.
“The Petitioner is trying to create an entitlement when none exists in the law by filing an application in the middle of the election period. It is respectfully reiterated that for credible multiple practical reasons, the result as per the statutory mandate, is declared on the basis of the data contained in Form 17C at the time prescribed under the statutory rule regime in existence,” the EC stated.
The EC further contended that the “indiscriminate disclosure” of polling station-wise voter turnout data would cause chaos in the election machinery, already in motion for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The EC also refuted the NGO’s claim of a 5-6% difference between voter turnout data released on polling days and subsequent press releases, calling the allegation misleading and unsubstantiated.
The EC’s 225-page affidavit emphasized that allowing the petitioner’s request would not only conflict with the legal position but also cause chaos in the election process. The NGO failed to cite any instance where candidates or voters had filed an election petition based on such allegations during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, indicating that the allegations were baseless and founded on mere suspicion.
The EC argued that elements with vested interests often throw baseless allegations to create an atmosphere of suspicion close to elections, aiming to discredit the process. The consistent campaign of raising doubts through misleading assertions and baseless allegations undermines the conduct of elections by the EC.
The EC highlighted that the statutory framework does not provide for the general disclosure of Form 17C, which is currently only available in the Strong Room and with polling agents whose signatures it bears. Public posting of these forms increases the risk of images being morphed, leading to public mistrust in the electoral process.
The EC also pointed out that the petitioner’s reliance on voter turnout data from the first two phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections was misleading. The Rules do not permit providing copies of Form 17C to any other entity besides the specified parties.
On May 17, the Supreme Court had requested the EC to respond within a week to the NGO’s plea for uploading polling station-wise voter turnout data within 48 hours of the conclusion of each phase of the Lok Sabha elections. The ADR had filed an interim application in its 2019 PIL seeking such directions to ensure greater transparency in the electoral process.