Latest news with #VoterTurnoutApp
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Bihar election onwards, voter turnout data to be out faster: EC
THE ELECTION Commission on Tuesday said it would streamline its internal processes for collecting voter turnout data from polling booths, making the public disclosure of the trends faster, starting with the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. 'This new process significantly reduces the time lag associated with the earlier manual reporting methods. The initiative aligns with the Commission's commitment to ensure timely public communication, which has often been underlined by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on various occasions,' the EC said in a statement. So far, the voter turnout data was collected manually, via phone calls and messages, from presiding officers of polling stations to sector officers and returning officers. 'This information was aggregated every two hours and uploaded to the Voter Turnout 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…' the EC said. The new process would entail presiding officers uploading the data directly onto the EC's new ECINET app every two hours. Data would be automatically aggregated at the constituency level and updated for the public on the app. '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… Where mobile networks are unavailable, entries can be made offline and synced once connectivity is restored,' the EC said. During last year's Lok Sabha elections, Opposition parties had questioned the EC over the delay in releasing final voter turnout figures at the end of polling.
NDTV
3 days ago
- General
- NDTV
Amid Concerns Over Voter Turnout Data, Poll Body Brings In Key Update
New Delhi: Facing questions over delays and alleged inconsistencies in voter turnout data, including during the Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has upgraded its digital infrastructure to address the issue. The latest update brings a significant change to how voter turnout data is collected and disseminated by getting it reported directly from the polling station, in near real-time. The Presiding Officer (PRO) at each polling station will now enter voter turnout data directly into the newly upgraded ECINET App, eliminating earlier time lags caused by layered data transmission. Officials said the new system is designed to address concerns over voter turnout figures, offering a tamper-proof, time-stamped entry process and real-time synchronisation - minimising discrepancies between on-ground turnout and reported figures. "This upgraded system will be fully operational ahead of the upcoming Bihar elections. By centralising all data flows into ECINET, the Commission aims to deliver faster, cleaner, and more trustworthy electoral data," an official said. Earlier, 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 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 four to five hours, or even more. The key improvements include:
Hans India
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
One platform for all electoral services, EC to launch ECINET
New Delhi: In a significant step towards streamlining electoral services, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Sunday that it is developing a comprehensive digital platform, ECINET, which will unify and reorient more than 40 of its existing mobile and web applications into a single, user-friendly interface. Designed to serve electors and key stakeholders -- including election officials, political parties, and civil society -- ECINET aims to simplify electoral processes by offering an aesthetic and accessible User Interface (UI) alongside a seamless User Experience (UX). "In a major initiative, the Election Commission of India is developing a new user-friendly digital interface for the electors and its other stakeholders," the Commission said in an official statement. The one-stop platform will eliminate the need for users to manage multiple apps and logins and will facilitate easy access to electoral data through both desktop and mobile devices, according to the statement. ECINET was conceptualised by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar during the Conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) held in March 2025, attended by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The statement added that the ECINET initiative is positioned to subsume major existing applications such as the Voter Helpline App, Voter Turnout App, cVIGIL, Suvidha 2.0, ESMS, Saksham, and KYC App -- which collectively account for more than 5.5 crore downloads. By doing so, the ECI said it aims to bring convenience to nearly 100 crore voters and the vast electoral machinery, including 10.5 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs), 15 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) from political parties, around 45 lakh polling officials, 15,597 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), 4,123 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and 767 District Election Officers (DEOs) across the country. ECINET will only feature data input by authorised ECI officials to ensure accuracy and reliability. In case of discrepancies, the primary data entered in statutory forms will remain the official source. The platform will be fully compliant with the legal provisions of the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951, the Registration of Electoral Rules, 1960, and the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, as well as with ECI's instructions.
Hindustan Times
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Data by presiding officers to be final in the event of conflict: ECI
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday said that in the event of any 'conflict' in voter turnout data, the primary figures filled in statutory forms by booth-level presiding officers will take precedence, with the crucial clarification coming amid growing scrutiny over the accuracy of data shared on poll body's official platforms. The announcement comes at a time when the ECI is preparing to launch ECINET — a new digital interface for voters, poll officials and political parties which will integrate over 40 of its existing mobile and web applications, including the Voter Turnout App. According to the poll body, the platform is being developed following an extensive consultative exercise involving 36 chief electoral officers, 767 district election officers, and 4,123 electoral registration officers across states and Union territories. ECINET will allow users to access electoral data on desktops and smartphones, ECI said in a press release on Sunday. 'To ensure that data is as accurate as possible, the data on ECINET will be entered solely by authorised ECI officials. Entry by the concerned official would ensure that the data made available to stakeholders is as accurate as possible. However, in case of any conflict, the primary data as duly filled in statutory forms will prevail,' it added. The ECI statement effectively means that for voter turnout figures, Form 17C — which records booth-wise voter turnout data filled by presiding officers — will be treated as the final record in case of discrepancies with data displayed on its portal and app. In addition to the Voter Turnout App, ECINET will also absorb platforms such as the Voter Helpline, cVIGIL (for reporting model code violations), the Affidavit Portal, and others. The initiative aims to benefit nearly one billion eligible voters, 1.05 million booth level officers, 1.5 million booth level agents of political parties, nearly 4.5 million polling officials, and 15,597 assistant electoral registration officers. The clarification gains significance amid growing criticism from various opposition parties, which accused ECI of voter data manipulation. Last month, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged at an event in the that the poll body was 'compromised' and that 'something is wrong with the system'. 'The Election Commission gave us a voting figure for 5.30 pm, and between 5.30 pm and 7.30 pm, 65 lakh (6.5 million) voters voted. This is physically impossible. For a voter to vote, it takes approximately three minutes and, if you do the math, it would mean that there were lines of voters till 2 am but this did not happen,' the former Congress chief had said. Rejecting the claims, ECI underlined that 6.40 crore (64 million) electors who reached the polling stations from 7 am to 6 pm voted in the Maharashtra polls, which effectively meant about 58 lakh (5.8 million) votes were polled per hour on an hour. 'Going by these average trends, nearly 116 lakh (11.6 million) voters could have voted in the last two hours. Therefore, casting of 65 lakh (6.5 million) votes by electors in two hours is much below the average hourly voting trend,' ECI had said in a statement, days after Gandhi's allegations.
Time of India
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
EC's single-point application set to integrate existing 40 apps, portals
This is a representational image NEW DELHI: Are too many election-related apps - separately enabling you to locate your polling station, report model code violations, track voter turnout or get poll results - crowding your phone memory? Well, the Election Commission will soon have a solution - a single-point app for all stakeholders, which will subsume over 40 apps and portals developed by EC over time, to give you a simplified user experience. The new, user-friendly digital interface will be available both as a web-based portal and as a mobile app for electors and other stakeholders such as election officials, political parties and the civil society. The one-stop platform, ECINET , will integrate and reorient over 40 of EC's existing mobile and web applications. It is expected to benefit nearly 100 crore electors and 26 lakh other stakeholders. The 40 existing apps include the Voter Helpline App, Voter Turnout App, cVIGIL, Suvidha 2.0, ESMS, Saksham and KYC App, which together have clocked over 5.5 crore downloads so far. "ECINET will have an aesthetic user interface (UI) and a simplified user experience (UX) by providing a singular platform for all electoral-related activities. This move is designed to alleviate the burden of the users for downloading and navigating multiple apps and remembering different logins," an EC spokesperson said. ECINET will also allow users to access relevant electoral data on their desktops or smartphones. To ensure that data is as accurate as possible, information on the platform will be entered by authorised EC officials only. In case of any conflict, primary data as duly filled in statutory forms will prevail.
