The Election Commission of India is implementing a technology-driven upgrade to its voter turnout reporting (VTR) process to provide more timely updates on approximate voter turnout percentages. This initiative streamlines the existing, non-statutory VTR App by requiring Presiding Officers (PROs) to directly enter voter turnout data into the new ECINET App every two hours on polling day and immediately after the close of poll. This data will be automatically aggregated at the constituency level. The new system aims to reduce delays of 4-5 hours or more associated with the previous manual data collection methods involving Sector Officers relaying information to Returning Officers. The updated VTR App, integrated with ECINET, will be implemented before the Bihar elections and will provide constituency-wise approximate voting percentages shortly after the close of polls, contingent on network connectivity.
Key Entities Referenced
Election Commission: The organization responsible for upgrading the Voter Turnout Reporting (VTR) sharing process.
Election Commission of India: The specific election commission introducing the streamlined technology-driven system.
03 JUN 2025: Date of the press release.
PIB Delhi: Press Information Bureau, Delhi, the source of the notification.
VTR sharing process: Voter Turnout Reporting sharing process being upgraded by the Election Commission.
Shri Gyanesh Kumar: Chief Election Commissioner who has underlined the Commission's commitment to timely public communication.
Rule 49S of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961: The statutory framework requiring Presiding Officers (PROs) to furnish Form 17C to polling agents.
Presiding Officers PROs: Officials required to furnish Form 17C detailing the account of votes recorded.
Form 17C: A document detailing the account of votes recorded, required to be furnished by Presiding Officers.
VTR App: Voter Turnout App being streamlined to ensure faster updation of voter turnout percentage trends.
ECINET App: New app where the Presiding Officer PRO of each polling station will directly enter voter turnout every two hours on polling day.
Bihar elections: Upcoming elections in Bihar, before which the updated VTR App will become an integral part of ECINET.
Sector Officers: Personnel who previously collected voter turnout data manually.
Returning Officers ROs: Officials who received voter turnout data relayed by Sector Officers.
Election Commission
Election Commission to upgrade VTR sharing
process
Posted On: 03 JUN 2025 5:21PM by PIB Delhi
The Election Commission of India is now introducing a streamlined, technology-driven system to provide
timely updates on the approximate voter turnout percentage trends. This new process significantly reduces the
time lag associated with the earlier manual reporting methods. The initiative aligns with the Commission’s
commitment to ensure timely public communication, which has often been underlined by the Chief Election
Commissioner, Shri Gyanesh Kumar on various occasions.
Under the statutory framework of Rule 49S of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, Presiding Officers
(PROs) are required to furnish Form 17C, detailing the account of votes recorded, to polling agents, who are
nominated by the candidates and are present at the polling station at the close of poll. While this legal
requirement remains unchanged, the process of updating the VTR App, which had evolved as a facilitative,
non-statutory mechanism to keep the public informed of the approximate voter turnout percentage trends is
being streamlined to ensure faster updation.
Under this new initiative, the Presiding Officer (PRO) of each polling station, will now be directly entering
voter turnout on the new ECINET App every two hours on polling day in order to reduce the time lag in the
updation of the approximate polling trends. This will be automatically aggregated at the constituency level.
The approximate voting percentage trends will continue to be published every two hours as before. Notably,
voter turnout data will now be entered into ECINET by PROs immediately after the close of poll, before they
leave the polling station which will reduce the delays and ensure that the approximate percentage of votes
polled would be available on the updated VTR App constituency-wise after the close of polls subject to
network connectivity. Where mobile networks are unavailable, entries can be made offline and synced once
connectivity is restored. This updated VTR App will become an integral part of ECINET before the Bihar
elections.
Previously, voter turnout data was collected manually by Sector Officers and relayed to Returning Officers
(ROs) via phone calls, SMS, or messaging apps. This information was aggregated every two hours and
uploaded to the Voter Turnout (VTR) App. The polling percentage trends were often updated hours later,
based on physical records arriving late in the night or even the next day, leading to delays of 4–5-hours or
more leading to misperceptions by some.
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PK/GDH/RP
(Release ID: 2133568)