Opposition leader requests commission to publish final polling percentage figures immediately

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader V D Satheesan has written a letter to the Election Commission for not releasing the final polling percentage figures even after three days of the completion of polling in the state. He has written a letter to the Central Election Commissioner demanding that the constituency-based polling information and postal voting status be published immediately.

To maintain the credibility of the election process, the exact polling percentage of each constituency should be made available to the public. The Commission should upload the polling information and postal ballot count on the official website. Otherwise, it will create doubts in political centers, pointed the opposition leader.

The Election Commission has not released the final polling percentage figures even after three days of the assembly elections, which saw massive polling. It was earlier informed that the final figures would be published within two days.

The final figure of how many people voted in the elections held on April 9 is yet to be released. The Chief Electoral Officer informed that the Central Election Commission would provide this. Only the number of votes cast in EVMs has been released. This is 78.27 percent. In addition to this, 2,26,860 people voted in home voting. In addition, postal votes and service votes need to be counted. 34,128 officials have applied for postal votes. As per the figures till April 6, 28,990 people have cast postal votes. The remaining figures are not available.

It is also unclear how many of the 1.46 lakh employees who are polling officials have applied and have cast their votes. The Chief Electoral Officer informed that the district election officers and returning officers will update the information and the commission will announce it. It was clarified that the final figures will be shared by the Election Commission through the index card.

Even after three days, only the old figures are available on the Election Commission's app. Officials in the state inform that the commission's permission has not been received. The figures have been handed over to the central election commission. It is up to the commission to complete the relevant procedures and disclose the final polling percentage and voter turnout.