No legal obligation to disclose booth-wise votes polled, creates voter confusion: EC tells Supreme Court

On May 17, the apex court asked the EC to respond to ADR's plea.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the Supreme Court on May 22 that there exists no legal entitlement to demand the publication of final authenticated data regarding voter turnout in all polling stations.

In an affidavit submitted to the apex court, the poll panel asserted that the release of voter turnout information derived from Form 17C (votes cast in each polling station) could lead to voter confusion, as it would encompass counts from postal ballots as well.

In the affidavit, the ECI has questioned the bonafides of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and alleged that it undertakes "consistent malafide campaign/design/efforts to keep on raising suspicion and doubt in every possible manner and by misleading assertions and baseless allegations regarding the conduct of elections by the Election Commission of India."

According to ECI, a complete disclosure of Form 17C can cause mischief and vitiation of entire electoral space. "In any electoral contest, the margin of victory may be very close. In such cases, disclosure of Form 17C in public domain may cause confusion in the minds of the voters with regard to the total votes polled as the latter figure would include the number of votes polled as per Form 17C as well as the votes received through postal ballots." The affidavit noted that such differences might be difficult to understand and may be used by persons with motivated interests to cast aspersion on the whole electoral process thereby causing chaos.

"At the moment, the original Form 17C is only available in the Strong Room and a copy only with the polling agents whose signature it bears. Therefore, there is a one-to one relationship between each Form 17C and its possessor," the EC affidavit read.

According to the ECI, the prayers made in the petition are contrary to the statutory mandate and there is no requirement to take steps as per the plea. "At the moment, the original Form 17C is only available in the Strong Room and a copy only with the polling agents whose signature it bears. Therefore, there is a one-to one relationship between each Form 17C and its possessor," the EC affidavit read.

On May 17, the apex court asked the EC to respond to ADR's plea. The CJI heard the case at 6 pm on the evening as it was the last working day of the Supreme Court. The hearing will now take place before a vacation bench of the apex court.

The case is scheduled for a hearing on May 24.