Delhi CEO refutes Kejriwal’s allegation concerning Form 17C on voter turnout, says rules duly followed

New Delhi [India], February 7 (ANI): The Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi on Friday refuted claims of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, who alleged that the Election Commission (EC) had not provided booth-wise voting data in assembly constituencies, with the poll body saying that Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 has been “complied in letter and spirit” at every polling station.

In response to the allegations of the AAP chief, the Delhi CEO’s office posted a statement saying, “As per Rule 49S of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961, all the Presiding Officer had furnished the account of votes recorded in Form 17C to every Polling Agent present at the polling station on the day of poll, February 5, 2025.”

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal alleged that the Election Commission has refused to upload Form 17C, which gives booth-wise the total number of votes polled in each assembly election.

“EC has refused to upload form 17C and the number of votes polled per booth in each assembly despite several requests. Aam Aadmi Party has made a website, where we have uploaded all the form 17C of every assembly,” read a post by Kejriwal.

The Rule 49S part (1) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 states, “The presiding officer shall at the close of the poll prepare an account of votes recorded in Form 17C and enclose it in a separate cover with the words ‘Account of votes recorded’ superscribed thereon.”

The 2nd part of Rule 49S says that the presiding officer shall furnish a copy of Form 17C to every polling agent.

“The presiding officer shall furnish every polling agent present at the close of the poll a true copy of the entries made in Form 17C after obtaining a receipt from the said polling agent therefor and shall attest it as a true copy,” part (2) of Rule 49S of Conduct of Election rules states.