ECI rebuts allegations on Maharashtra polls, calls claims ‘unfounded and disrespectful’

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has strongly rebutted recent allegations questioning the integrity of the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, calling the claims “unsubstantiated” and “disrespectful to the electoral process and those who serve it.”

According to the Commission, a total of 6.4 crore voters cast their ballots across the state between 7 am and 6 pm on polling day, with an average of 58 lakh votes recorded every hour.

By this trend, nearly 116 lakh votes could have been expected in the last two hours of polling.

Instead, only 65 lakh votes were cast during this period which is below the average hourly voting, refuting claims of suspiciously high late-hour voting.

In an official statement released in response to criticisms from the Indian National Congress (INC), the ECI outlined detailed statistics and legal procedures to counter what it termed as misinformation.

It added that a Special Summary Revision was conducted prior to the elections and final rolls were shared with all major political parties, including the INC. Against nearly 9.78 crore electors, only 89 appeals were made to the first appellate authority and just one to the second appellate authority — a statistic the ECI claims is proof of widespread acceptance of the rolls.

The Commission also highlighted that 1,03,727 Booth Level Agents were appointed by all political parties during the revision process, of which 27,099 were from the INC.

“These unsubstantiated allegations against the electoral rolls are not only unfounded but also an affront to the rule of law,” it added.

The ECI further emphasised that voting at every booth took place under the watchful eyes of polling agents formally appointed by various political parties, including the INC. “No substantiated allegations regarding abnormal voting were raised by any authorised agent of the INC during scrutiny by Returning Officers or Election Observers,” the Commission stated.

On the issue of electoral rolls, the Commission clarified that they were prepared according to the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.