Did the Election Commission delay voter turnout data of the first 2 phases?

India has completed two out of the seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday (30 April) released the final voting figures for the first two phases.

The data came 11 days after the first phase polling on 19 April, and four days after the second phase on 26 April. The poll body is facing flak over the delay in announcing the final voter turnout for these two phases. The figures are also being questioned.

But why?

Let’s understand.

Final voter turnout

According to the Election Commission, the final voter turnout for the first phase was 66.14 per cent, while it was 66.71 per cent for the second phase.

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In 2019, voter turnout in the first phase was recorded at 69.4 per cent and 69.2 per cent in the second phase, reported Times of India (TOI).

After the first phase of polling in 102 seats ended on 19 April, the EC said the voter turnout was around 60 per cent as of 7 pm. The poll body said after the second phase on 26 April that the voting figure was 60.96 per cent, noted The News Minute (TNM).

As per an Indian Express report, on 20 April, the poll body projected the voter turnout in the first phase at 65.5 per cent. On 27 April, sources in EC had forecast a 66.7 per cent turnout for the second phase of polling on 88 Lok Sabha seats.

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Delay in release of data questioned

The Opposition has cornered the Election Commission over the delay in release of the final voter turnout data for the two phases.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh took to X, claiming that it was for the first time that such a delay by the EC in releasing the final turnout figures was seen. “In the past, ECI used to publish the final voter turnout immediately after voting or within 24 hours.”

On Wednesday (1 May), he said the EC’s data does not reveal the “breakup of the number of votes”.

After the data was released, West Bengal chief minister on Wednesday called out the EC over the delayed final voter turnout figures. She also raised questions about the abrupt rise in the figures as compared to the provisional numbers.

“The EC gave a figure of polling percentage immediately after the elections. But yesterday, I came to know about the sudden jump in final voter turnout by nearly 5.75 per cent, which is worrying. The percentage has increased in places where voting was not in favour of the BJP,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo alleged at a rally in West Bengal, as per the news agency PTI.

Banerjee said this was not only “disturbing” but also raises “serious apprehensions about the credibility of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines)”.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted there were “serious apprehensions on manipulation of results”. “Finally ECI has put out the final voter turnout figures for the first two phases which are substantially, not marginally as is normal, higher than the initial figures,” he wrote on X.

“But why are the absolute numbers of voters in each Parliamentary constituency not put out? Percentages are meaningless unless this figure is known. Apprehensions of manipulation of results continue as total voter numbers can be altered at the time of counting. Total number of voters in each constituency was always available on ECI website till 2014! ECI must be transparent & put out this data,” Yechury said.

I’m talking of absolute number of registered voters in each constituency not the number of polled votes which will be known only after postal ballots are counted.
Why is the total number of voters in each constituency not being put out?
ECI must answer. pic.twitter.com/cWIBjQXjQv

— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) April 30, 2024

Highlighting that there was a 5.75 per cent increase in final voter turnout for the second phase, TMC MP Derek O’Brien tweeted: “Is this normal? What am I missing here?”

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What else is EC being criticised for?

Some, including Congress’ Ramesh, have pointed out that the EC’s data for the first two phases does not include the total number of registered electors in each Lok Sabha constituency. The poll body has published this information in the past, including the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Late last night, after a completely unacceptable delay of 11 days for Phase I and 4 days for Phase 2, the ECI finally released the voter turnout data. However, two issues have emerged in the ECI’s latest data release –

1. The number of registered voters per Lok Sabha and the…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 1, 2024

The EC is also under scanner for not publishing the exact number of electors who cast ballots.

Political activist Yogendra Yadav said that while it was common for the EC to revise voter turnout figures, this situation has not happened before. He told Scroll that the increase in voter turnout was not unusual but the unprecedented delay raises concerns.

“This time, on the Election Commission app, the turnout numbers kept increasing till four days after polling in the first phase. Even after four days, the final numbers were not released, it took 11 days to do so,” Yadav said.

Former Indian Administrative Services official Kannan Gopinathan said the delay in releasing final numbers triggers unease among the public about the EC’s working.

“There could be two possibilities, either the Commission could not gather polling data from all booths for 11 days which would be a matter of huge concern, or they were sitting on the data which shows incompetence,” he was quoted as saying by Scroll.

Has EC responded?

The EC is yet to comment on the issue officially.

However, EC sources told TOI that the final voter turnout numbers released on Tuesday were the same as collected from constituency-wise voting figures on the poll body’s voter turnout app on 20 April evening, a day after the first phase ended, and 27 April evening following the conclusion of the second phase.

The sources said that after Form 17C, which records turnout at every polling station in absolute numbers at the end of voting, was examined on the evening after polling day, the turnout was 66.14 per cent for the first phase and 66.71 per cent for the second phase.

Speaking to TOI, a senior EC functionary said that not just constituency-wise but “even booth data of votes polled is available with the candidates and cannot be changed at any stage. Candidates use this data of votes polled station-wise to keep check on counting day.”

Former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa told Scroll that the poll panel has a procedure to calculate voter turnout figures “almost immediately”. However, he added, “Sometimes it takes time to authenticate the data and it would not be proper to make a comment without knowing the situation on ground.”

Lavasa also dismissed concerns about the possibility of discrepancies in the number of votes counted and number of votes polled. “I do not understand the anxiety over turnout numbers. I do not think anybody can hide or manipulate these numbers,” he told Scroll.

With inputs from agencies