New Delhi Amid concerns raised by the Congress, the Election Commission on Tuesday said there has been no arbitrary addition or removal of voters in Maharashtra, where assembly elections were held recently.
The election body focused on two primary concerns raised by the Congress – arbitrary deletion and subsequent addition of voters to Maharashtra’s voter list, and changes in voter turnout data figures between 5 pm and 11.30 pm on polling day.
After meeting the ECI on December 3, senior Congress leader Manu Abhishek Singhvi had claimed that of the 118 constituencies in the state, of which the BJP won 102, each constituency had about 25,000 more people per constituency than in the general elections. An increase of ₹ was observed. General and state elections. In its letter to the Election Commission dated November 29, the party had claimed that out of the 50 assembly constituencies which saw an average increase of 50,000 voters, the BJP won 47 seats.
The ECI claimed that this was a “baseless allegation” which “creates unnecessary and avoidable doubt and anxiety in the minds of the public”.
On the discrepancy in voting percentage between 5 pm and 11:30 pm, the ECI said, “At the time of counting, the data entered in Form 17C is matched with the data in the EVMs in the presence of counting agents and Hence the difference in voting percentage is alleged.” The data was released at 5:00 pm on polling day and the final voter turnout data is exaggerated.
“The Commission believes that there should be no clarification missing from the INC following these details. The Commission is committed to a respectful cooperative relationship with all political parties, which is very important for a healthy democracy and welcomes suggestions for any improvements in the electoral process,” said the response signed by ECI Secretary SK Das.
It said there were only six assembly constituencies, not 50 as claimed by the Congress, where more than 50,000 voters were added. The ECI said copies of the draft roll, claims and objections were provided to the Congress in all constituencies. “Congress representatives actually participated in the revision of the voter list at various stages till the finalization of the voter list,” the ECI said.
It said that in the five-month period between the general and state elections, there was an addition of 4,881,610 voters and deletion of 800,391 (an average of 2,779 voters per assembly constituency), resulting in a net addition of 4,081,228 voters in the state. This is because, in December 2021 (coming into effect in August 2022), the Representation of the People Act, 1951 was amended to increase the number of qualifying dates for registration in the electoral roll from only January 1 to April 1, July 1 and It should be done in October. 1.
As July 1 and October 1 fell within a five-month period, people who turned 18 also became eligible to register and enroll for state elections. Of the 4,081,228 net additions, 872,094 (21.4%) were between the ages of 18 and 19, while 1,774,514 (43.5%) were between the ages of 20–29, i.e. 64.8% of the net additions.
The ECI said that under the supervision of the ECI, the returning officers and district election officers prepare voter lists which are revised annually. The final roll is published around 5 January each year and then updated continuously until October. The draft roll is published by October. After this publication, both the public and political parties can file claims and objections.
Further, before all State Assembly elections, the ECI conducts Special Summary Revision (SSR) of the rolls which includes house-to-house survey, physical field verification by booth level officials, random checking by higher officials and regular meetings. Political parties. Political parties appoint booth level agents to monitor this process.
The ECI said monthly lists of additions, deletions and amendments to the rolls are published on the website, and the draft and final rolls are available on the websites of the CEOs/DEOs. Free copies of the part-wise draft and final roll are provided to all recognized political parties, while the general public can obtain a copy by paying a “nominal fee”. The ECI said that two copies of the voter list, a hard copy with images of voters and a soft copy without images, are made available at the ERO level. “These instructions are followed uniformly across the country,” the ECI said.
The ECI also said that the list of all claims and objections is shared with recognized political parties on a weekly basis.
The Congress had claimed that names of voters were arbitrarily removed from the list in the five-month period between the general elections and the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The party had asked for the raw data and the forms included in it.
ECI outlines standard operating procedure regarding deletion of names from rolls. It said deletion due to registered death requires proper verification, including submission of death certificate. For unregistered death and change of address, required forms (Form 7 and Form 8 respectively) have to be obtained. For each deletion, the BLO has to submit a field verification identification. For all proposed deletions, except registered deaths, the ECI said a notice is issued and the concerned elector is given a “reasonable opportunity” of being heard.
If it is proposed to remove more than 2% of all voters from a polling station, the Electoral Registration Officer will have to “cross verify” each case of removal individually. The ERO must also verify the deletion individually, if the same person objects to the deletion in more than five cases.
On the discrepancy in voter turnout, the ECI said, “[t]he Commission has decided to once again inform you not only but also about the concept of statutory sharing of VTR with contesting candidates in Form 17C. have also educated citizens at large, and the ECI wrote, the very different concept of non-statutory framework of sharing VTR on VTR APP is designed for the general public and underlines the difference between the two During the general elections, variation in voter turnout had been a major sticking point, resulting in the ECI writing a scathing letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The ECI said that “voter turnout” is not a legally defined concept nor is its publication at any level legally required. It reiterated that Form 17C (Part I), is an “immutable co-shared record”, containing details of the number of votes recorded, which after filling is shared with the polling agents of the candidates at the end of polling. By the presiding officer of the polling station.
The voter turnout data provided in the app is a “convenient measure” by the ECI and not a statutory requirement. It is collected by Sector Magistrates every two hours starting from 9 am through various media including phone, personally visiting booths, messaging groups etc. “It is possible that Sector Magistrates may not get accurate advanced trends from some PSs in some cycles. of data collection,” the ECI wrote. It added that these trends are not a substitute for the data in Form 17C.
“Considering the 5:00 pm figures as the final voting percentage or its closest estimate is simply a misconception,” the ECI said. And called it “interim data of estimated voting percentage”. ECI said that voting can continue even after 6 pm.
After the polling ends, the presiding officer will have to perform “a number of statutory, non-statutory and administrative tasks”, the election body said. Form 17C Part I (with data from EVMs regarding number of votes recorded on machines, votes polled during mock poll, number of votes polled etc.), is given to the candidates or their agents at the end of polling. On the day of voting itself, the ECI said.
On the day of polling, the Returning Officer has to collect the EVMs and store them safely in the strongroom. “At the same time, updating the voting data coming on VTR APP is the next priority,” the ECI said.
“The polling data provided at 11:45 pm on the polling day also cannot be considered as the final voter turnout, as it is also not possible to provide the final voter turnout data before the scrutiny of election papers takes place on the next day. Polling day in the presence of candidates and observers. Also, some polling parties may not have been able to return/submit their documents by that time,”
The ECI said Form 17A (list of people who voted at the booth level) is scrutinized a day after polling. In some cases, some polling parties returned on P+2 or P+3 days due to difficulties in “geography, security concerns and weather conditions”.
