“Political games…” Opposition questions ECI over delay in updating phase I, II polling data

May 02, 2024

New Delhi, May 02 (ANI): Amid Lok Sabha Elections, The Election Commission published final data on voter turnout in two rounds on April 30. The Election Commission has revised polling data to 66.14 pc for Phase I and 66.7 pc for Phase II. On April 20, a day after the 1st phase of voting in 102 seats, the ECI had pegged voting percentage at 65.5. Whereas on April 27, sources in EC had indicated a turnout of 66.7 per cent for the 2nd phase comprising 88 seats. However, the revised data on voter turnout has sparked furore and questioned the ECI’s accountability. Congress has criticised the ECI for the delay in sharing the data on overall turnout, calling it “completely unacceptable”. Taking to X, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that two issues have ‘emerged’ with the ECI’s latest data release. Notably, ECI released the final data of voter turnout more than 10 days after Phase 1 and four days after Phase 2 of polling. However, the poll body did not release the total number of voters in each constituency. The final turnout is a marginal upward revision of less than one percentage point from the provisional figures shared by the EC.