Open Letter to Election Commission of India on Concerns regarding the conduct of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024
By PUCL, NAPM, Bahutva Karnataka, AILAJ, Shramik Bachao Andolan and others
To,
The Chief Election Commissioner of India,
Election Commission of India,
Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road,
New Delhi – 110001.
10th May 2024
Dear Sir,
Sub: Concerns regarding the conduct of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024
We, the undersigned citizens of India, are writing to you with concerns regarding the manner in which the Lok Sabha 2024 elections are being conducted. With Phases 1, 2, and 3 of the elections completed on 19th April, 26th April and 7th May, several issues have emerged calling into question the fairness as well as parity of the elections, which we are highlighting below for your action.
Voter turnout data must be shared in numbers
At the very outset, we are concerned that the voter turnout data for the now completed phases of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections for Phases 1,[1] 2,[2] and 3[3] has been declared only in percentages as 66.14%, 66.71% and 65.68% respectively. However, actual and absolute numbers of voter turnout of how many votes were polled have not been released, in an unexplained departure from the norm.
We are aware that each presiding officer of a polling station compiles the votes polled data at the end of the poll and records the same in Form 17, which is handed over to the political party representatives and send to the Returning Officer, who in turn compiles data of all the polling stations and sends the final voter turnout to the EC. This is done in absolute numbers. In the 2019 elections, the data contained numbers of the actual total electors, total voters along with the percentage turnout in 2014 and compared with 2019 per constituency.[4] The absolute numbers of gender-wise turnout in each constituency in 2019 was also released 2 days after polling in 2019.
However, only percentages have been released for the present elections without any numbers, raising concerns regarding the transparency in the conduct of the elections. Concerned members of civil society have earlier written to your office highlighting the need for proactive disclosures of votes polled due to the large fluctuation in voter figures,[5] as in Phase 1, the ECI voter turnout estimate as of 7 pm on 19th April was 60% but the updated figure published 11 days later on 30th April was 66.14%, an unexplained jump of 6%. Similarly, for Phase 2, the approximate voter turnout as of 7 pm on 26th April was stated to be 60.96% but was revised to 66.71% by 30th April.[6] This jump in voter turnout percentages, without any explanation, and after inordinate delays, hinders public trust in the electoral process.
It is well established that the hallmark of democratic elections is its fairness and transparency, as well as the fulfillment of the citizen’s right to information regarding the electoral process. Thus, it is imperative that the voter data be released in numbers and also be released without inordinate delays.
Discrepancies in 2019 voter data
In 2019, reports indicated discrepancies between votes polled and votes counted in the Lok Sabha elections in 373 constituencies, including a surplus of more than 18,000 in Kancheepuram, 14,512 in Sriperumbudur, etc.[7] However, the ECI has merely explained this discrepancy in the Supreme Court as a discrepancy in the live voter turnout data which was uploaded on the website, and that there was no mismatch between the data of votes polled as per EVMs recorded in Form 17C and the results declared per Form 20.[8] However, the response is not only evasive, but fails to address how the live voter turnout data published with inputs from polling station Presiding officers had such a huge discrepancy in several constituencies.
Failure to combat hate speech during elections
We are shocked by the increasingly hateful pitch of the present elections, in which candidates have engaged in flagrant violations of the Model Code of Conduct (“MCC”). Although the MCC prohibits the incitement of hatred and appeals to voters on religious grounds,[9] there have been flagrant violations of the MCC by political parties, their candidates and star campaigners, including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is a star campaigner of the BJP. Although several complaints have been filed with the ECI regarding several of his speeches in violation of the MCC, mere notice has been issued to BJP Chief JP Nadda regarding a violation.[10]
We also note the repeated violations by candidates such as Tejasvi Surya, who have attempted to vitiate the atmosphere of communal harmony during elections. The BJP Karnataka party has also posted several hateful statements on social media, including the latest post on 04.05.2024 on “X” demonizing the Muslim community. We are concerned that the ECI ordered Twitter (“X”) to pull down the post,[11] but no action was taken against BJP Karnataka to either take down the post immediately or to ban any future posting by them. In fact, their post on “X” dated 23.04.2024 regarding the “Congress Manifesto or Muslim League Manifesto?” that evidently demonises the Muslim community and even goes so far as to state “The Congress’ sinister designs are clear: To take away the hard-earned money of Indians & to gift it to Muslims. They will seize our land, wealth and rights, only to gift them to ‘Peacefuls’.” is still available on “X”.[12]
There have also been hateful advertisements published in the newspaper by BJP Karnataka (latest on 05.05.2024 in Sunday Times) and open appeals to vote on the basis of religion by the BJP star campaigners and candidates, including Narendra Modi.[13] We are gravely concerned by the repeated flagrant violations of the MCC by candidates and their parties, and the lack of strong action on the part of the ECI to not only curb such hate speeches, but to take effective action against the violators. Each day, appeals to vote on the basis of religion are being repeatedly made.
The Supreme Court has noted that persons of influence wield significant impact on the general public and owe a duty to be more responsible with their words, and that hate speech is a violation of the right to live with dignity.[14] The Supreme Court has also noted that hate speech has a societal impact which lays the groundwork for later broad attacks on the vulnerable that can range from discrimination, to ostracism, segregation, deportation, violence and, in the most extreme cases, to genocide. The Court noted also that the root of the problem is not the absence of laws but a lack of effective execution, including effective regulation of hate speech by all agencies.[15] Thus, it is imperative that the ECI takes pre-emptive action as well as remedial & punitive action against all hate speech during the elections.
Failure to take action against surrogate ads
It has been reported that the expenditure on surrogate advertising and targeted online campaigns by political actors to influence voter perception and beliefs are not under adequate scrutiny. The ECI must ensure accountability of political parties and digital platforms by adopting rights-based standards for regulating political expenditure on online ads and targeted campaigning. The ECI has also failed to disclose any action taken on such surrogate advertisements.
Although it has earlier been brought to the attention of your office the manner in which technology affects electoral outcomes,[16] including use of deepfakes and voter surveillance, the ECI has not responded or taken adequate action to secure these violations.
Failure to take equal and impartial action against parties
We note the selective manner in which the ECI appears to be taking action against violations of the MCC, which vitiates a level playing field during elections. Although the ECI has issued directions to the Aam Aadmi Party mandating alterations to their campaign anthem, has barred K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the Founder of Bharat Rashtra Samithi, from campaigning for 48 hours for derogatory remarks against Congress, has barred A. Raja from campaigning for 48 hours and also delisted him from the DMK’s star campaigner list, similar action has not been taken against Narendra Modi or the BJP for their repeated violations of the MCC. We seek an explanation from the ECI regarding the action taken on several complaints against parties and why selective action has been taken.
Failure to stop campaigning violations
Although several violations have been brought to the notice of the ECI, including Narendra Modi’s hate speeches that demonize the Muslim community, proper action has not been taken against the violations, including delisting violators from the star campaigners list. Only notice has been issued in several violations or FIRs have been registered, without any stringent action against the political party.
We have noted that the lack of a level playing field has led to several opposition candidates to withdraw their candidature, including 8 candidates in Surat in which the seat has been won as uncontested by the BJP. The declaration of seats as won for being uncontested is a travesty, and the ECI must ensure not only that there is a level playing field, but that there are no threats or intimidations that are forcing candidates to withdraw.
We wish to highlight here that public trust in the electoral process is the indelible base on which our democracy is built. There have been pertinent concerns regarding the flagrant violations of the MCC, the freezing of accounts of opposition leaders, bias of mainstream media, the use of religious appeals for votes, discrepancies of voter turnout and a survey revealed an alarming decrease in trust of the ECI with “58% of the respondents expressed some or great distrust in the Election Commission in 2024 as opposed to 78% evincing trust in the poll body following the 2019 Lok Sabha election”.[17]
In order to secure public trust in the electoral process, we demand that the ECI must take urgent note of the above highlighted concerns and ensure a level-playing field in the remaining phases of the elections. We are reposing our faith in the ECI that it will take our concerns with the seriousness deserved, and respond with urgency.
Demands
- Ensure that Mr. Modi who is a star campaigner for BJP is banned from campaigning for 96 hours.
- Ensure that an inquiry is conducted into candidates being pressurised to withdraw/ being offered incentives to withdraw in Surat, Indore, Gandhinagar and elsewhere
- Immediately declare the number of votes polled in all the three phases conducted so far
- Explain conclusively the discrepancies in votes polled and counted in 2019
- Ensure that action is taken against all parties for MCC violations
- Take immediate action against surrogate ads by political parties
Sincerely,
(People’s Union for Civil Liberties, NAPM, Bahutva Karnataka, AILAJ, Shramik Bachao Andolon and other signatories )