Supreme Court states, “Hands off!” and declines to issue orders about the ADR request for complete voter turnout statistics within 48 hours after voting

In keeping with a “hands-off” approach, the Supreme Court on Friday declined to issue orders in response to a plea from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) requesting that the Election Commission be directed to post voter turnout data by polling station on its website within 48 hours of each phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

“I can assure you that this application will be considered after the elections.Give it a rest in between elections! We are unable to halt the procedure. We also behave responsibly as citizens. Let the main writ petition and the application be heard together. ADR’s senior attorney, Dushyant Dave, was addressed by a Vacation Bench consisting of Justices Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma, saying, “Let us have some faith in the authorities.”

In a 2019 PIL, ADR filed an interim application on May 10th, requesting that the poll panel instruct all polling stations to submit “scanned legible copies of Form 17C Part-I (Account of Votes Recorded)” as soon as the elections conclude.

The bench, however, was unconvinced that it ought to be heard during election season.

“Please refer to prayers B of the 2019 petition and A of the 2024 interim application. Place them side by side. Supreme Court rulings from the past look you in the face and say, “You can’t do this.” Given that plea A of the 2019 petition is comparable to prayer B of the 2024 application, we are not inclined to give any temporary respite. Listen to the temporary petition after the summer break,” it said.

The ruling from the top court came about as a result of senior advocate Maninder Singh pointing out on behalf of the Election Commission that the petition was four years old and that the interim motion had only been filed because of false concerns about the election process.

“Is it allowed for you (ADR) to submit an application in relation to a ruling in which you are involved?… It is essential to fortify rather than undermine public confidence in the electoral process. Wherever it deems appropriate, the EC acts independently. It concluded that these applications are just fears, according to Singh.

Singh urged the Bench to reject the request, pointing out that the top court had questioned the legitimacy of ADR in its ruling on April 26 regarding EVM-VVPAT. He said that a persistent challenge to the election process might discourage individuals from participating in the democratic process.

The poll panel had asked the highest court to reject ADR’s request to demand voter turnout statistics under Form 17C on Wednesday, claiming that there is neither a delay nor a variation in the percentage of turnout data. They said that “such attempts demotivate voters.”

“There is neither delay nor difference in percentage of voter turnout data, more than what is inbuilt into the process, scale and magnitude in play,” the EC said in response to ADR’s request.

The EC said, “There is no legal mandate to provide Form-17 to any person other than the candidate or his agent,” in an affidavit that was submitted to the highest court. Through the filing of an application in the midst of the election period, the petitioner is attempting to establish an entitlement when none is provided for by law.

The EC argued that the reliefs requested by the ADR amounted to meddling in the election process, and thus, the ADR’s application could not be upheld because Article 329(b) of the Constitution expressly forbids any judicial meddling in the election process from the time the election notice is sent out until the results are announced.

The poll panel stated that disclosures about voter turnout are made using both statutory methods, such as the Form-17 that is given to candidates or their agents, and non-statutory methods, like its voter turnout app, website, and press releases. These are updated continuously on election day, with the most recent update occurring at 11:45 a.m. after waiting for the maximum number of parties to return.

“The following day, records at the polling station level are scrutinized before candidates,” it said. The voter turnout app is regularly updated with real-time statistics. However, in accordance with legislative requirements, candidates’ agents get Form 17-C after polls shut on election day, and the data on the form is unchangeable.

ADR has argued that “ECI released voter participation statistics for the first two phases of the current 2024 Lok Sabha elections on April 30. The first phase of voting was place on April 19 and the second phase was done on April 26. The data was published after 11 days of polling. The information released by the ECI in a news release on April 30, 2024, reveals a significant rise (about 5-6%) in comparison to the original percentages that the ECI revealed at 7:00 p.m. on the polling day.