The presiding officer at every booth has to fill Form 17C onlineAfter the voting is over, it gives information about all the related statistics.Not only 17C form but also 17A form is filled online at booth level
The Supreme Court has started hearing on the issue of final release of voting data by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The Election Commission told the Supreme Court why the voting data is being released late. It also said that the details of Form 17C, which shows the number of votes cast at the polling station, cannot be made public. Actually, the controversy started because the data published by the ECI after the voting is quite different from the final voter percentage published later.
Only after this, questions started being raised about the authenticity of the voting data and the possibility of manipulation in the counting phase. While an NGO appealed to the Supreme Court regarding this, Rampur’s independent election lawyer Mahmood Pracha appealed to the Supreme Court. He alleged that the concerned Returning Officer (RO) had not submitted copies of Form 17C records of votes cast in his constituency as per the Election Conduct Rules, 1961 (1961 Rules).
Let us first know what is Form 17C
At every polling booth, the presiding officer is given a form, which he has to fill online. This work has to be done immediately after the voting process is over.
This is what Form 17C looks like
If you are looking at this picture, then many things have to be filled in it, which makes it clear that how many people voted, how many did not come to vote and how many people were not considered eligible to vote. It also has to be filled that how many EVMs were used during the voting. The number and number of the control unit and ballot unit have to be given.
Some questions of Form 17C are presented before you, from which it becomes clear that this is such a form, which records every detail of voting activity at the polling centre, after which there is no scope for any discrepancy in the percentage of votes.
Name and number of polling station
Identification number of the EVM used
Control Unit Number –
Ballot Unit Number –
How many people came to vote
What is the number of votes recorded as per Rule 17A
How many people were not allowed (as per Rule 49M)
When the EVM was tested, record how many votes were cast
For which candidates were the votes tested?
In this form, the person to whom the ballot paper was given also has to be recorded.
The number of ballot papers remaining is also recorded
Mainly these things are recorded in Form 17C. This is such a form that if it is published online, then all the data will be revealed, but it is very difficult to publish the data of all the booths across the country separately.
Why Form 17C and Form 17A are necessary
According to the 1961 rules, the Election Commission has to maintain two forms, to be filled out as soon as polling is over, containing data on the number of voters and votes cast – Form 17A and Form 17C. If you have gone to vote, your details are also recorded in the register continuously before you vote. Under Rule 49S(2), the presiding officer has to give a copy of the filled-in Form 17C to the polling agents of the candidates at the end of polling.
The data in Form 17C is used by the candidates to verify the results on the counting day by matching it with the EVM count. Subsequently, election petitions can also be filed in the High Court in case of any discrepancy.
what happened in the last election
In the previous elections, the complete number of votes cast in any constituency was released. So no questions were raised about it then. But the delay this time has raised questions.
How many booths are there in a constituency? Why is it difficult for agents to get Form 17C at every booth?
There are about 2,000-2,200 booths in a constituency. It is not possible for a candidate to have agents at so many booths. A candidate needs to have about 6,000 polling agents in each constituency to be able to get a copy of Form 17C. It is impossible for smaller parties and many independent candidates to have polling agents at all booths.
Tags: 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Election Commission of India, Lok Sabha Election 2024, Lok Sabha Elections
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 23, 2024, 19:38 IST