Former CEC Flags ‘Wide Variation’ Between Provisional Voter Turnout Figure & Final Data In Maharashtra Polls

Mumbai: At a time when the ongoing debate over the reliability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in India has intensified, former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi expressed concern over the wide variation between the provisional voter turnout figures and the final data in the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly polls.

In Maharashtra, where polling was conducted on Nov 20, the voting figures at 5 pm was recorded 55%. The final voter turnout, which wa released the next day, showed the turnout rising up to 67%. This has been the highest voter’s turnout in the state in almost three decades.

Voter turnout figures were recorded in real-time, and the huge variation was ‘worrying’, Quraishi, who was the CEC between 2010-2012, told the India Today. He also explained the process of how voter turnout is recorded. “That definitely worries me. These figures are updated in real time. When we go to vote, there is a form 17A and our attendance is marked by the presiding officer. At the end of the day, form 17C is filled with the total happenings of the day. Only after it is filled and the signatures of the agents of the candidates are taken, the presiding officer goes home,” he said, as quoted by India Today.

Form 17C keeps the record of number of votes polled at each polling station. “This is real-time data generated on the same day. Then how can the data change the next day I fail to understand,” he asked.

The former Chief Election Commissioner said the issue should be answered and explained by the poll body. “The way the doubts are spreading across the country, if it gets into everybody’s head, then the entire system will not be trusted,” he told India Today.

Opposition has raised similar concern, advocated ‘return to paper ballots’

A similar concern was raised by the Opposition during the May 2024 Lok Sabha elections. At that time, the Opposition had cited discrepancies of 5-6% between initial and final turnout figures. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) had also filed a petition in the Supreme Court for the release of polling station-wise voter turnout data within 48 hours of each voting phase, according to reports.

However, the Supreme Court had rejected the request, citing practical challenges. The Election Commission had argued that such disclosures could pose logistical difficulties. Meanwhile, the Congress and its allies are advocating for a return to paper ballots.

What did Election Commission of India say?

On 22 November 2024, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Maharashtra published data on their website regarding the total votes polled in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections. According to the data, the total number of votes polled across all 288 Assembly constituencies using EVMs in Maharashtra was 6,40,88,195. But this figure didn’t include the 5,38,225 postal ballot votes.

After adding the postal ballots to the EVM vote count brings the total number of votes polled to 6,46,26,420. According to the CEO of Maharashtra, the total votes counted, including postal ballots, amounted to 6,45,92,508.

Hence, the total votes counted are not more than the total votes polled, the poll body claimed.