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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
EC launches new system for faster, accurate voter turnout reporting
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has introduced a new, technology-based system to provide real-time updates on approximate voter turnout trends, aimed at reducing the delays associated with the earlier manual reporting process. In a press statement, the poll body emphasised that the move aligns with the Commission's commitment to timely public communication — a priority frequently highlighted by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Under Rule 49S of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, Presiding Officers (PROs) are still required to submit Form 17C, which contains the account of votes recorded, to the polling agents nominated by candidates at the close of polling. 'While this legal requirement remains unchanged, the process of updating the VTR app, which had evolved as a facilitative, non-statutory mechanism to keep the public informed of the approximate voter turnout percentage trends, is being streamlined to ensure faster updation,' the Election Commission said. ECINET app to reduce time lag Under the new system, each Presiding Officer at every polling station will enter voter turnout data into the new ECINET app every two hours on polling day. This change is expected to cut the time lag significantly, allowing data to be aggregated automatically at the constituency level. The approximate voting percentage trends will continue to be published at two-hour intervals, as before. Voter turnout data will now be entered into ECINET by the PROs immediately after the close of poll, before they leave the polling station. This will help ensure that the approximate percentage of votes polled is available on the updated VTR app at the constituency level right after polls close, subject to network connectivity. 'Where mobile networks are unavailable, entries can be made offline and synced once connectivity is restored. This updated VTR app will become an integral part of ECINET before the Bihar elections,' the poll body mentioned. Use of the new ECINET app * PROs will now enter voter turnout data directly into the ECINET app every two hours on polling day. * This data will be automatically aggregated at the constituency level and published every two hours. * PROs must enter final turnout data into ECINET immediately after polls close, before leaving the station. * ECINET allows offline data entry in areas with no network, which syncs once connectivity returns.
Hans India
3 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
EC mulls tech-driven system for timely update on voter turnout
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is now introducing a streamlined, technology-driven system to provide timely updates on the approximate voter turnout percentage trends. As per official sources, the new process will reduce the time lag associated with the earlier manual reporting methods. The initiative aligns with ECI's commitment to ensure timely public communication, which has often been underlined by the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar on various occasions. Under the statutory framework of Rule 49S of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, Presiding Officers (PROs) are required to furnish Form 17C, detailing the account of votes recorded, to polling agents, who are nominated by the candidates and are present at the polling station at the close of poll. While this legal requirement remains unchanged, the process of updating the VTR App, which had evolved as a facilitative, non-statutory mechanism to keep the public informed of the approximate voter turnout percentage trends is being streamlined to ensure faster updation. Under this new initiative, the Presiding Officer (PRO) of each polling station, will now be directly entering voter turnout on the new ECINET App every two hours on polling day in order to reduce the time lag in the updation of the approximate polling trends. This will be automatically aggregated at the constituency level. The approximate voting percentage trends will continue to be published every two hours as before. Notably, voter turnout data will now be entered into ECINET by PROs immediately after the close of poll, before they leave the polling station which will reduce the delays and ensure that the approximate percentage of votes polled would be available on the updated VTR App constituency-wise after the close of polls subject to network connectivity. Where mobile networks are unavailable, entries can be made offline and synced once connectivity is restored. This updated VTR App will become an integral part of ECINET before the Bihar elections. Previously, voter turnout data was collected manually by Sector Officers and relayed to Returning Officers (ROs) via phone calls, SMS, or messaging apps. This information was aggregated every two hours and uploaded to the Voter Turnout (VTR) App. The polling percentage trends were often updated hours later, based on physical records arriving late in the night or even the next day, leading to delays of 4–5-hours or more leading to misperceptions by some.
Time of India
4 days ago
- General
- Time of India
2.6 lakh similar EPIC numbers weeded out: Election Commission
Pune: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has resolved a nearly two-decade-old legacy issue involving similar Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers, weeding out approximately 2.6 lakh duplicate cards from the electoral database across the country. The exercise, which involved scrutinising records of over 99 crore electors across 10.5 lakh polling stations in all 4,123 assembly constituencies, has put to rest a problem that originated in 2005 due to the erroneous use of similar alphanumeric series by different electoral registration officers, an ECI official said. In an effort to refine electoral rolls and maintain accuracy, chief electoral officers of all 36 states and union territories, along with electoral registration officers, undertook an exhaustive search of the entire database to identify these anomalies. "With an average of approximately 1,000 electors per polling station, the number of similar EPIC numbers identified was minimal, averaging around one in every four polling stations," the EC official said, emphasising the limited scope of the issue despite its long-standing nature. The field-level verification process revealed that individuals holding these similar EPIC numbers were genuine electors residing in different assembly constituencies and different polling stations. Such electors have now been issued new EPIC cards with unique numbers, ensuring complete elimination of duplicates from the system. The issue dates back to 2005, when various states and UTs were independently using different alphanumeric series for each assembly constituency. It underwent a mandatory change in 2008 following the delimitation of constituencies. However, during the crucial transition period, some assembly constituencies inadvertently continued using either the old series or, due to typographical errors, adopted series allocated to other constituencies, creating the similarity in EPIC numbers. "This was a legacy issue that required systematic resolution," a senior ECI official said. Officials clarified that the existence of similar EPIC numbers never compromised electoral integrity or influenced any election outcome. Every voter's name remains registered in the electoral roll of the specific polling station where they are ordinary residents. "Possessing an EPIC with a similar number never enabled any individual to cast a vote at a different polling station. Therefore, the issue of similar EPIC numbers could not have influenced the outcome of any elections," the official said. Ahead of Bihar polls, upgraded VTR on the cards The ECI is set to launch a new technology-driven system to provide faster updates on voter turnout percentages during elections. The initiative aims to reduce delays associated with the earlier manual reporting process and ensure timely public communication, an EC official said on Tuesday. Currently, under Rule 49S of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, presiding officers must submit Form 17C with vote counts to polling agents at the close of polls — a legal requirement that remains unchanged. However, the update process for the Voter Turnout Reporting (VTR) app, which shares approximate turnout trends with the public, is being improved for quicker data availability. Under the new system, presiding officers will directly enter voter turnout data into the ECINET app every two hours on polling day. This data will be automatically aggregated at the constituency level and published bi-hourly, as before. The data will be entered immediately after polling ends, before the presiding officers leave the station, reducing delays and enabling near real-time updates on the app. The updated process also accommodates offline entry where mobile connectivity is poor, syncing data once network access resumes. This upgraded VTR App will be integrated into the ECINET system ahead of the Bihar elections. Previously, voter turnout data was manually collected by Sector Officers and passed through several layers, causing four- to five-hour delays or more.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Election Commission plans faster, more transparent turnout updates ahead of Bihar polls
Following criticism over past delays, the Election Commission has revamped its voter turnout reporting system. Presiding Officers will now directly enter turnout figures into the ECINET app every two hours on polling day, ensuring faster and more accurate updates. This revised process, to be implemented before the Bihar assembly elections, aims to reduce reporting delays and improve transparency. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Nearly a year after facing flak over delays in publishing voter turnout (VTR) data during the Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission has overhauled its reporting system to ensure faster and more transparent the new mechanism, the Presiding Officer (PRO) at each polling station will now enter turnout figures directly into the ECINET app every two hours on polling day. The data will be automatically aggregated at the constituency level, allowing the EC to continue publishing approximate turnout trends every two hours, as earlier - but with greater accuracy and reduced revised process will be implemented ahead of the Bihar assembly elections scheduled later this year. A key change is that PROs will now enter the final turnout data into ECINET immediately after polls close, before leaving the polling station. This is expected to significantly reduce the reporting delay and make constituency-wise turnout data available promptly on the VTR app, subject to network areas with poor connectivity, offline entries will be synced once the network is restored. The updated VTR app will be integrated into ECINET ahead of the Bihar polls, the poll panel voter turnout data was collected manually by Sector Officers and shared with Returning Officers via calls, SMS, or messaging apps. This often led to delays of 4-5 hours - or more - before turnout trends could be published, contributing to confusion and misperceptions in some the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 (Rule 49S), Presiding Officers (PROs) are legally required to provide Form 17C -- a record of votes cast -- to polling agents at the close of voting. While this statutory provision remains unchanged, the ECI has overhauled the parallel, non-statutory system used to provide approximate voter turnout data through the VTR Commission reiterated that while the approximate trends shown in the VTR App are for public awareness, the official and final data will continue to be based on Form initiative is part of the ECI's ongoing commitment to timely public communication, a priority repeatedly highlighted by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Hindustan Times
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
EC holds legal framework meet
Chief electoral officers from all 36 states and the legal counsels of the Election Commission of India from the Supreme Court and 28 high courts on Saturday participated in the concluding session of the two-day conference and deliberated on ways to improve the panel's litigation strategy and procedural transparency. With the discussion focusing on the theme 'first line of defence: challenge maintainability', the Commission has decided to now contest election-related petitions on the grounds of maintainability before engaging on merits. 'Election-related litigations are increasingly politically motivated. The first step should be to examine whether the petitioner has exhausted all statutory remedies and whether the Commission is legally obligated to provide the information sought,' a person who attended the conference said on condition of anonymity. One of the examples cited during this discussion was the controversy over Form 17C, which documents voter turnout at the polling booth level. While the form is currently shared only with candidates or their agents, petitions demanding wider publication are pending in the Supreme Court. 'We have to assert the limits of legal mandate here so that the petition become non maintainable,' the person cited above said. Another person who attended the conference said that post-result questioning of electoral rolls also came up for discussion. 'There are defined procedures for objections and appeals during the drafting of electoral rolls, but these are rarely used. If such remedies haven't been exhausted, the Commission will use this as a preliminary line of defence. This reinforces the image of a well-structured system grounded in legal procedure,' the second person said. Another area of focus for the conference was 'managing narrative: battle of perceptions'. Media coverage of court proceedings often highlights only the petitioner's arguments or judges' oral observations, while the ECI's responses go unreported, people familiar with the matter said. 'This leads to public suspicion… It was deliberated that Commission's version must also be communicated effectively, the people said. The discussions also centred on 'saving court's time: treating the petition as a representation, hearing and passing the speaking orders by the CEOs or the Deputy Election Commissioners'. People cited above said that it was deliberated that the CEOs or the DECs conducting hearings and issuing speaking orders, so that minor matters do not escalate into full-blown litigation. 'If we can resolve these at the initial level, the judiciary's burden will be reduced,' said a senior official said requesting anonymity. It was also emphasised that once a grievance is heard by a CEO or DEC, the resulting order must be 'legally sound, factually precise, and procedurally complete'. 'Well-drafted, well-reasoned orders can prevent escalation to courts and reinforce the Commission's credibility,' a fourth person told HT.
