17L votes cast after midnight: Andhra poll results under scrutiny
What's the story
The results of the 2024 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, which the NDA, led by Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) won, have been called into question. The NDA won a landslide victory in that election, securing 164 out of 175 seats. The veracity of the results is now under doubt, with economist Parakala Prabhakar claiming that approximately 4.16% of the total votes were cast between 11:45pm and 2:00am. He suggested that "something unusual" happened after 8:00pm.
Voting irregularities
Prabhakar flags unusual voting patterns
Prabhakar flagged unusual voting patterns, including votes being cast within six seconds. "If EVMs take 14 seconds to reset, how were votes being cast in as little as 6 seconds? Can a voter realistically enter, vote and exit in that time? he asked. He said polling continued till 2:00am at 3,500 booths. He said nearly 52 lakh votes were recorded between 8:00pm and 2:00am, and more than 17 lakh votes were cast after midnight.
Turnout discrepancies
Voter turnout figures also questioned
The voter turnout figures for the Andhra Pradesh elections were also questioned. After polling ended on May 13, 2024, Andhra's Chief Electoral Officer announced a turnout of 68.04%. The Election Commission of India (ECI) later revised the final figure to 81.79%. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan raised concerns over transparency in the election process, asking why Form 17C wasn't made public and voter lists weren't released in machine-readable formats.
Audit demand
Former CEC calls for audit of election records
Agreeing with the concerns raised, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi has called for an audit of election records, including Form 17C and Form 20. He questioned why discrepancies appear in aggregated data if Form 17C is signed and sealed at the booth level. Quraishi also suggested same-day disclosure of polling percentages and immediate release of booth-level summaries to ensure transparency.