Arvind Kejriwal Says Election Commission’s Delay In Poll Data Is Shocking

New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said it was “absolutely shocking” that the Election Commission has not released the final turnout percentage of assembly polls held yesterday in the national capital.

“Absolutely shocking. What is EC doing? Why are they not releasing poll turnout figures, several hours after polling?” Mr Kejriwal tweeted, while his party alleged voter fraud by tampering the Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs.

Absolutely shocking. What is EC doing? Why are they not releasing poll turnout figures, several hours after polling? https://t.co/ko1m5YqlSx

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 9, 2020

Voting for the Delhi assembly election closed at 6 pm on Saturday. Nearly 22 hours later, the Election Commission is yet to release how many of the 1.47 crore eligible residents voted. The data is usually released on the same evening of the polls.

After reporting unusually low voter turnout through most of the day on Saturday, the Election Commission reported a spurt in turnout and released provisional figures at the end of voting at 57.06 per cent. The figure was significantly low from the 2015 turnout when it was 67.5 per cent though election officials said the number was likely to go up in the final tally.

During the day, many also noted the sizeable difference between the figures being reported on the Election Commission’s smartphone application and those being released every two hours by the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi.

Late into the night, Election Commission spokesperson Sheyphali Sharan posted a screenshot of the app at 10:17 pm – almost four hours voting ended – saying that the “estimated” turnout was 61.43 per cent. The Election Commission, however, is yet to release a final number through its usual channels.

The disconcerting delay added to questions raised by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the security of EVMs. Releasing a number of videos, the party claimed that there were many reports of EVMs being taken away illegally to tamper with them. Election Commission officials have denied the charges.

Voting was held for all 70 of Delhi’s Assembly seats on Saturday, with nearly 2,700 polling stations and 13,000 booths set up across Delhi opening at 8 am.

Exit polls predicted that AAP, led by Arvind Kejriwal, will win a clear majority and be back in power, defeating the BJP which rules at the centre.

Rubbishing the exit polls, the BJP’s Manoj Tiwari yesterday claimed that his party would win the election with precisely 48 seats and said other parties should not make the excuse of EVM tampering for their defeat.

“All these exit polls will fail. Please save this tweet from me. The BJP will form government in the city with 48 seats. Please do not look for excuses and blame the EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines),” his tweet read.

Election results will be declared on February 11.