A delegation of citizens, comprising Anjali Bhardwaj, Ashok Sharma, Shabnam Hashmi, Navsharan Singh and Amrita Johri submitted a petition to the Election Commission of India (ECI) demanding that the ECI disclose authenticated record of voter turnout figures as contained in Part I of Form 17C.
The petition which has been endorsed by more than 4,000 people states:
“For the first phase of elections, the ECI in its press note on the day of polling (19.4.2024) stated that as of 7 pm, the estimated voter turnout was over 60%. The voter turnout data published 11 days later by ECI on April 30th, provided a figure of 66.14%- a jump of more than 6%.
“Similarly, for the second phase, the press note on the day of polling (26.4.2024) stated that the approximate voter turnout was 60.96% as of 7 pm, which was subsequently revised to 66.71% in the press note of April 30, 2024. The inordinate delay in the release of voter turnout, coupled with the unusually high revision (of nearly 6%) sans any explanation in the ECI’s press note of April 30th, has raised concerns and doubts among people about the voter turnout figures. Public trust in the electoral process is key to ensure robust functioning of our democracy.
“We, therefore, urge the ECI to immediately upload on the Commission’s website a scanned legible copy of Part I of Form 17C (Account of Votes Recorded) of every polling station where voting took place in the first three phases. Further, for the remaining phases, this information must be publicly displayed on the ECI website within 48 hours of the close of polls. In addition to uploading a scanned copy of the forms, a tabulation of the constituency and polling station wise figures of voter turnout in absolute numbers must also be publicly displayed on the ECI website.”
The ECI has not released voter turnout figures in absolute numbers for any of the 4 phases of elections where polling has finished.
The petition seeking greater transparency in the electoral process has been endorsed by transparency activists, lawyers, information commissioners, retired civil servants and concerned citizens including Anjali Bhardwaj, Prashant Bhushan, Najeeb Jung, Tushar A. Gandhi, Jagdeep Chhokar, MG Devasahayam, Yogendra Yadav, Teesta Setalvad, Vrinda Grover, Shailesh Gandhi, Ashok Sharma, Shabnam Hashmi, Amrita Johri, Navsharan Singh, Jayati Ghosh, Vipul Mudgal, Anand Patwardhan, Meeran Chadha Borwankar, Syeda Hameed, Henri Tiphagne, Madhu Bhaduri, Annie Raja, E A S Sarma, T M Krishna, Prof MM Ansari (former Central Information Commissioner), M Sridhar Acharyulu (former CIC), Rahul Singh (former State Information Commissioner, MP), Venkatesh Nayak, Maimoona Mollah, Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey, Nivedita Menon, Mridula Mukherjee, K P Fabian, Meera Sanghamitra, Kavitha Kuruganti, Aditya Mukherjee, Nandini Sundar, Nikhil Dey, Dr Sunilam.
The full petition with the signatures can be accessed at
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m2POt28EU3ZB-1rJ8XixW-YVsnFfZpiW/view?usp=sharing
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