Parties Doubting There's Something Fishy: Sibal On EC Not Putting Out Booth-Wise Turnout Data

The Election Commission's decision to not release the polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website has given rise to doubts among political parties, said Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal.

Sibal, a seasoned lawyer, pointed out the absence of such data could lead to suspicions among political parties of misconduct. He questioned the reasons behind the reluctance to share this information, especially when Form 17C, detailing votes polled at each station, is already shared with polling agents post-voting.

His comments came a day after the Election Commission told the Supreme Court that 'indiscriminate disclosure' of polling station-wise turnout data and posting it on its website would cause chaos in the election machinery.

During a press conference, Sibal highlighted the discrepancy between the data provided to polling agents and the lack of its availability on the Election Commission's website. He expressed concerns over the possibility of the vote count exceeding the actual votes polled, questioning the Commission's hesitance to publish the data online.

The Election Commission also refuted allegations of discrepancies in voter turnout figures for the first two phases of the elections, labeling such claims as unfounded. In its affidavit to the Supreme Court, it underscored the legal and logistical challenges of meeting the petitioner's demands, suggesting it could lead to chaos within the election machinery amidst the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

"Form 17C is signed by a presiding officer and given to the polling agent at the end of the poll, which indicates the number of votes polled. The information is also directly sent to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Now why does the ECI not put that data on the website? What's the problem? Just like the EC at the time of counting, EC puts the final count on its website to indicate who has won (it should put this out also)," Sibal said.

"What can happen in the process is that the number of votes that are counted would in fact be more than the number of votes that are polled. We don't know whether that is correct or not. What is the hesitation of the EC in putting that data on its website? Nobody can morph it. That will be tallied with the data of the polling agent," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

The Election Commission has refuted claims that voter turnout data for the first two phases of the elections showed an alleged increase of '5-6 percent' between the initial polling day reports and subsequent press releases.

This statement was made in an affidavit submitted to the apex court in response to a petition from an NGO. The petition requested that the Election Commission be instructed to publish polling station-wise turnout data on its website within 48 hours after each phase of the Lok Sabha elections.