ECINET Turnout Update

Context

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the integration of a new automated voter turnout reporting feature in its unified mobile application ECINET, to be launched before the Bihar Assembly Elections in November 2025. This move follows criticism regarding delayed and inconsistent voter turnout data during the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, raising concerns over transparency and electoral integrity.

Background Context:

During the 2024 General Elections, the ECI faced political and public criticism over the delay and subsequent revision in voter turnout figures released for the first and second phases.
Turnout data released 11 days post-polling showed discrepancies of 5–6 percentage points over initial data, which led to allegations of opacity.

Current Process of Voter Turnout Collection:

At present, Presiding Officers report turnout manually to Sector Officers and Returning Officers (ROs) via phone/text.
Data is then compiled and uploaded to the Voter Turnout App manually every two hours.

Reform Announced:

ECINET, a unified application consolidating 40+ existing ECI apps (e.g., electoral rolls, affidavits, turnout), will enable direct digital entry of turnout data by each Presiding Officer every 2 hours.
Turnout figures will be automatically aggregated and made publicly viewable, ensuring real-time transparency and minimizing delay.

Legal Framework:

Form 17C under the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 mandates booth-wise voter turnout disclosure to candidates’ polling agents.
Statutory completion of polling formalities takes precedence over real-time updates, especially in remote constituencies, according to the ECI’s clarification.