Civil society pens letter to EC, seeks authenticated record of voter turnout nos. | India News

NEW DELHI: A delegation of civil society members including activists and human rights lawyers submitted a petition to the Election Commission of India on Tuesday demanding proactive disclosure of authenticated record of voter turnout figures for all polling stations. The letter which has been signed by over 4,000 people demands greater transparency in the election process.
“We are writing to flag our concerns arising from the large fluctuation in figures of voter turnout in the first two phases of the ongoing general elections and to urge the Election Commission of India to immediately disclose through its website, the authenticated record of voter turnout as contained in Part I of Form 17C,” the petition states.
They elaborate that as per Rule 49S of the ‘Conduct of Elections Rules’, at the close of polling, the presiding officer has to prepare an account of votes recorded in Part I of Form 17C and also furnish an authenticated copy of this to every polling agent.
“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,” the civil society members asserted in their petition.
They have also sought that for the remaining phases, this information must be publicly displayed on the ECI website within 48 hours of the close of polls.