Form 17C Data Can Confuse Voters: Election Commission Tells Supreme Court

In response to the Supreme Court's question over disclosing and uploading 17C data on ECI's website that includes voter turnout at each polling station, the Election Commission representative said, that it may create confusion among the voters. The poll conducting body added that form 17C data does not include postal ballot counts and it is potentially misleading.

The Election Commission further added that if they upload Form 17C, miscreants may morph it and spread it on social media platforms which may impact further rounds of polling and create "widespread discomfort and mistrust."

The commission underlined that to conduct fair and free elections, especially when it is a close fight, sharing form 17 data may be used to tarnish the image of the election body, break people's trust in the electoral process, and disrupt the ongoing election machinery which is not good for India's democracy.

A request to make form 17C date public was raised in the Supreme Court by an NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The ECI also told the court that there is no legal compulsion to make 17C data public and it is only given to polling agents from various parties, who are also acting as part of the democratic process.

On the question of delay in announcing the final percentage of polling in every phase, the Election Commission said that polling was also being held in some remote areas and polling agents need time to reach the strong rooms and report the final figure, which causes delays sometimes.