The Supreme Court on Tuesday acknowledged the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) openness to discussing the publication of polling booth-wise voter turnout data, following submissions from TMC MP Mahua Moitra and NGO Association for Democratic Reforms. The two parties have been advocating for increased transparency in election processes through their Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed back in 2019.
The bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and including Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan, heard the PILs which demand that the ECI upload detailed voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours after polling concludes in Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, representing the ECI, conveyed that the newly appointed Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, is open to discussing the concerns raised in the PILs. “Here is a new chief election commissioner now. The petitioners can meet him and it may be addressed,” Singh stated.
Chief Justice Khanna further directed the petitioners to submit their representations to the Election Commission within the next ten days. “In the meanwhile, the counsel for Election Commission states that the petitioners (the NGO and the MP) may file a representation with the Election Commission, and the EC will give them a hearing and inform about the same in advance,” he said.
The court has scheduled to revisit the issue in the week of July 28. This ongoing dialogue highlights the judicial and regulatory willingness to potentially enhance the transparency of electoral processes, amid concerns that such disclosures could disrupt the electoral system and create chaos, as previously argued by the ECI.
