New Delhi, India – In a significant move to enhance transparency and efficiency in the electoral process, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday unveiled a new, technology-driven system aimed at drastically reducing the time lag associated with the earlier manual methods of reporting voter turnout. The initiative, integrated into the existing ECINET application, promises more timely and accurate updates on polling trends.
Under the streamlined system, presiding officers (PROs) at each polling station will now directly enter voter turnout data into the ECINET application every two hours on polling day. This marks a crucial shift from the previous manual collection by sector officers, which often led to delays of four to five hours or more in public dissemination of approximate polling trends.
A key improvement is the mandate for PROs to enter the final voter turnout data immediately after the close of polls, before they leave the polling station. This measure is expected to eliminate late-night or next-day updates, ensuring that approximate percentage of votes polled are available constituency-wise soon after the conclusion of voting, subject to network connectivity. In areas with limited mobile network, entries can be made offline and synced once connectivity is restored.
The ECI emphasized that while this new system significantly reduces the time lag for public consumption of approximate turnout data, the statutory requirement for PROs to furnish Form 17C – detailing the account of votes recorded – to polling agents remains unchanged. This legal record continues to be the authoritative account of the vote count.
The updated Voter Turnout Ratio (VTR) App, now an integral part of ECINET, is slated to be fully operational before the upcoming Bihar elections. This technological advancement is a testament to the ECI’s ongoing commitment to leveraging digital tools for more accessible, transparent, and efficient elections, fostering greater public trust in the electoral process.
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