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Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi voiced concern over the wide variation between the provisional voter turnout figures and the final data in the Maharashtra Assembly polls. In Maharashtra, which went to polls on November 20, the voting figures at 5 pm was 55%. The final voter turnout, released the next day, saw it go up to 67% — the highest in almost three decades.
In an interview with India Today, SY Quraishi, who was the CEC between 2010-2012, said voter turnout figures are recorded in real-time and the huge variation was “worrying”.
Explaining the process of how voter turnout is recorded, Quraishi said, “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.”
Form 17C records the 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,” Quraishi further said.
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 said.
A similar concern was raised by the opposition during the May 2024 Lok Sabha elections, citing discrepancies of 5-6% between initial and final turnout figures. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) had filed a petition in the Supreme Court for the release of polling station-wise voter turnout data within 48 hours of each polling phase.
However, the Supreme Court declined the request, citing practical challenges. The Election Commission had also argued that such disclosures could pose logistical difficulties.
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