The Election Commission’s reluctance to place indisputable voting figures in the public domain by uploading Form 17 on its website unnecessarily prolongs the doubts and discussions about the authenticity of voting figures and the integrity of the electoral process. The EC needs to do everything possible to ensure public trust in the integrity of its data. The controversy over the authenticity of the commission’s data erupted when it took 11 days after the first phase of polls and four days after the second phase to put out the final voter turnouts. The opposition parties questioned the inordinate delay in publishing the final figures, which in previous elections were made public within 24 hours of voting.
Besides the delay, the final figure showed a sharp increase of more than 5 percent from the voting percentage announced by the commission at the end of the polling days. Questions have also been raised on why the total number of registered voters in each parliamentary constituency was not made available on the EC website. The opposition parties have pointed out that the polling percentage put out by the commission without revealing the total number of registered voters in a constituency was meaningless. These are concerns that the commission needs to address.
The EC has responded by saying that the exact number of votes polled at each polling station is made available to the contesting candidates or their polling agents through Form 17C Part 1, in which all the votes polled at a station are recorded. A petition has now been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the EC to upload the Form 17C on its website. The EC has opposed the plea saying that putting Form 17C in the public domain may lead to its misuse and cause confusion over the total votes polled at a station. The commission also claimed that no legal right could be claimed regarding the publication of the final, authenticated data of voter turnout at all polling stations.
It is not just about the legality of the claims being made by opposition parties and reform groups. The issue here is more about perception and people’s trust in the electoral process. The commission needs to bring more transparency and speed in putting out accurate and indisputable voting figures in the public domain.
