Context
Recently, the Election Commission (EC) of India told the Supreme Court that it cannot upload Form 17C, which is the record of votes polled at a polling station, because there is no legal mandate to give it to anyone other than candidates and their agents.
- On May 17, the Supreme Court had asked the EC to submit a response to a petition by ADR, which asked for scanned copies of Form 17C to be uploaded on the EC website as soon as polling concludes.
About the Issue
- Background: Nonprofits Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Common Cause filed an interlocutory application in a 2019 writ petition alleging discrepancies in the voter turnout data regarding the 2019 General Elections.
- Response by the Election Commission of India:
- Underlined the Difference: The EC underlined the difference between the statutory disclosure of the number of votes recorded in each polling station in the form of Form 17C and its non-statutory, voluntary disclosure of voter turnout on polling day in the form of press releases and its Voter Turnout app.
- Voter Turnout app is a mobile app, launched by ECI for the voters across the country to see the real time availability of voter turnout during the election season in the country.
- No Legal Mandate: It is submitted that there is no legal mandate to provide the Form 17C to any person other than the candidate or his agent.
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- A Civil Society Group: ADR is a civil society group that focuses on electoral reforms was established in 1999 by a group of professors from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
- Various Interventions: Since its inception, the group has been part of several interventions in the Court that have led to key changes in the electoral laws.
- Led Voters to know the background of Candidates: One of its first cases filed in 1999 was a plea seeking disclosure of a candidate’s criminal background, educational qualification and assets before the election.
- Inclusion of NOTA (None of the Above) option in the EVM: ADR was also one of the petitioners in the SC’s 2013 landmark judgment that led to the inclusion of NOTA option in the EVM.
- Challenge to Electoral Bonds Scheme: In its last major intervention, ADR was one of the lead petitioners to challenge the electoral bonds scheme that was struck down by the Supreme Court in February 2024.
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- Refers: It is an account of all the votes recorded.
- As per the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, the ECI has to maintain two forms that have data on the number of electors and the votes polled — Forms 17A and 17C.
- Form 17A is used to record the details of every voter who comes into a polling booth and casts his or her vote.
- Rules Followed:
- Prepared by: Under Rules 49S and 56C of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, the presiding officer prepares an account of votes recorded in Part-I of Form 17C and makes it available to every polling agent present at the close of the poll.
- To Furnish Information: Under Rule 49S(2), a presiding officer is mandated to furnish a copy of the entries made in Form 17C to the polling agents of the candidates at the close of polling.
- Significance:
- Contains Significant Information: Part I of Form 17C contains crucial information:
- The identification numbers of the EVMs used in the polling station
- The total number of electors assigned to the polling station
- The total number of voters as entered in the register for voters (Form 17A)
- The number of voters who decided not to record their votes after signing the register
- The number of voters who were not allowed to vote
- The total number of test votes and votes recorded per EVM
- Carry Counting Results: Part II of Form 17C contains the results of the counting carried out on the stipulated day.
- Verification of the Results: The data in Form 17C is used by candidates to verify the results on counting day by matching it with the EVM count.
- Subsequently, an election petition can also be moved in the concerned High Court in case of any discrepancies.
- Maintenance of Transparency: Copies of Form 17 C are shared with polling agents present immediately, as the strongest measure of transparency. So, candidates are aware and in possession of exact voter turnout data in absolute numbers even before it is known to the ECI.
About Voter Turnout
- Refers: It is a module of the Enabling Communications on Real-time Environment (ENCORE) that runs on the poll day.
- ENCORE has been developed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to manage candidates and elections more efficiently.
- Data Entry: All the data entries need to be filled without fail in a designated time slot by the Returning Officer (RO) /Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) in the ENCORE Portal.
- The ROs/AROs enter the cumulative percentage of voter turnout for their respective assembly.
- Turnout Report: After the end of the Poll, System allows entry of detailed turnout reports – Constituency wise and Polling Station wise, which include male, female, and third gender numbers against the total number of electors.
- Available Features in the Voter Turnout Module:
- Slot-wise percentage entry of turnout
- Publish of turnout on the end of slot
- Polling station-wise data entry for “End of Poll” percentage
- Multi-level verification of final poll percentage
- Significance:
- Monitoring: This voter turnout data can be monitored by the citizens and media houses via Voter Turnout app.
- These percentages get aggregated in the system to find the district and state wise poll percentage.
- Simplification of the Process: This mechanism simplifies the data entry of two-hourly voter turnout and helps in the timely dissemination of the information on a real-time basis.
- To ensure timely entries for each Constituency, there is a facility to monitor and identify the assembly that has missed the data entry.
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May 23, 2024
