Supreme Court Encourages Dialogue on Poll Data Transparency

The Supreme Court encouraged petitioners to engage with the Election Commission of India following its openness to discuss the demand for publishing polling booth-wise voter turnout data. This follows PILs by TMC MP Mahua Moitra and the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, pushing for increased transparency in election data dissemination.

The Supreme Court has signaled the potential for progress concerning the transparency of election data. On Tuesday, the court took note of the Election Commission of India's willingness to consider requests for polling booth-specific voter turnout data on its website.

The bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan, addressed two public interest litigations submitted by TMC MP Mahua Moitra and the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms initially filed in 2019. These PILs call for the immediate publication of polling station-wise voter turnout data following election days.

The court has invited the petitioners to present their case to new Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar within 10 days. Meanwhile, the Election Commission, per Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, expressed readiness to discuss the issue, with a hearing scheduled for late July.

(With inputs from agencies.)