New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday clarified the misconception regarding the jump in voting percentage in Maharashtra. polling day And said that increase in voting percentage from 5 pm to 11:45 pm is normal.
Last month, the Congress had raised doubts over the surge in voting percentage on polling day in Maharashtra and sought answers from the ECI. In a letter to the ECI, the Congress said there was an “inexplicable increase” in turnout between 5 pm on polling day and the final voting percentage declared by the Election Commission at 11.30 pm.
Responding to the concerns, the Election Commission explained why it was wrong to compare the 5 pm turnout figures with the final turnout figures, how the increase in turnout from 5 pm to 11:45 pm is normal, which is an increase in voters. Is part of the process of aggregation. There may be real but irrelevant differences in the figures for turnout and how votes were cast and counted.
According to ANI, the Commission has clearly confirmed that it is impossible to alter the actual voter turnout as the statutory Form 17C giving details of voter turnout is available with the authorized agents of the candidates at the time of closure of polling at the polling station.
The ECI said a rule-based process was followed with transparency in preparing the Maharashtra voter list and there was no irregular pattern in voter deletion in the state. It told the Congress that due process was followed in preparing the voter list, including the participation of Congress representatives, PTI reported.
On November 29, the Congress wrote a letter to the Commission saying, “With this practice of uncontrolled and arbitrary removal of voters and consequential insertion, the state of Maharashtra witnessed an unprecedented increase of addition of an estimated 47 lakh voters to the electoral rolls.” Between July 2024 – November 2024.”
“It is important to note that out of the 50 assembly constituencies which saw an average increase of 50,000 voters, 47 constituencies were won by the ruling regime and its allies,” it said.
Regarding the increase in voter turnout, the Congress said that data provided by the Election Commission shows that at 5 pm the voter turnout in Maharashtra was 58.22%, which later increased to 65.02% by 11.30 pm the same day.
Additionally, several hours before counting began, the final report was 66.05%. The letter said that data shows that about 76 lakh votes were cast between 5 pm and 6 pm on November 21, 2024.
