Voting trends in India: The biggest festival of democracy in India is elections, and new efforts are constantly made to make it transparent and credible. In this direction, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken a big step. On Tuesday, the Commission announced a new technological initiative called Voter Turnout Ratio (VTR), which will provide real-time updates on voting percentage.
Under this new system, the Presiding Officers (PROs) posted at polling stations will enter the voting data directly on the ECINET App every two hours. This data will be immediately added at the constituency level and made public every two hours.
What is Voter Turnout Ratio (VTR)?
VTR i.e. Voter Voting Ratio, is a data that tells how many percent of voters have voted so far. Earlier this data was collected manually and it took a lot of time. Many times these figures used to come at night or the next day after the voting was over, which created confusion.
Now in this new system, the voting percentage will be updated every two hours, so that voters and the media can get transparent and fresh information.
How will the ECINET App work?
ECINET App is the official application of the Election Commission, which has been specially designed to complete the election work digitally.
- The PRO of every polling station will have to login to the ECINET App and enter the voting data every two hours.
- This data will be automatically added to the respective constituency.
- Where there is no mobile network, entry can be made in offline mode and as soon as the network is available, the data will be automatically synced.
According to the ECI, this facility will be fully operational before the Bihar elections.
How was the process earlier?
Earlier, sector officers were responsible for collecting voting data. They used to collect voting data from polling stations in their area and send it to Returning Officers (ROs) through phone calls, SMS or messaging apps. Then the ROs used to upload that data on the VTR App.
This process was often delayed by 4-5 hours or more, leading to misconceptions in media reports or on social media.
What will change and what will remain the same?
It is worth noting that this system is only for information about voting percentage. The process of generating Form 17C after the voting is over, which contains complete details of the votes, will remain applicable as before.
Under Rule 49S, Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, the PRO has to give a copy of Form 17C to the polling agents at the end of voting. No change has been made in this rule.
Why was this initiative necessary?
- Saving time: The anxiety of waiting for the results will be reduced by updating the data every two hours.
- Avoiding confusion: False rumours were spread on social media due to late data, now transparency will be maintained.
- Technical improvement: ECINET App has already been helping in many election works, now with the addition of VTR feature in it, its utility will increase further.
Where will the information be available?
These figures will be made available on the Election Commission website and related Election Commission apps every two hours. Apart from this, this data will also be shared on media channels and social media handles.
Conclusion
ECI’s move towards making the election process in India digital and transparent is highly commendable. This will not only increase the trust of voters, but will also provide accurate and timely information to the media and political parties.
The rollout of this technology before the Bihar elections shows that the Election Commission of India is fully prepared for future needs.
Now the next time you go to vote, remember, your vote is not just a means of forming a government, but a celebration of strengthening democracy – and now its reporting will also be more accurate and faster than ever.
