New Delhi: The Supreme Court asked the Election Commission (EC) why it doesn’t quickly put up on its website the confirmed voting numbers from each polling booth after every election phase. They were responding to a complaint about delays in sharing the voter turnout data for the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections, and concerns about significant increases in the turnout figures after the initial announcements.
During the hearing, the EC mentioned a previous Supreme Court ruling from April 26, which discussed various aspects of election security and procedures. They asked for time to respond to the complaint. The court agreed and scheduled the next hearing for May 24, just before the sixth phase of polling.
The complaint highlighted that the EC took 11 days to release the final voter turnout data for the first phase of polling and four days for the second phase. Also, there was a notable jump (around 5-6%) in the turnout figures from the initial estimates given by the EC on the polling day.
The complaint said, this delay and sudden increase in numbers, without providing detailed breakdowns for each constituency and polling station, have led to concerns among the public about the accuracy of the data. The petition urged for these concerns to be addressed and clarified.