New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday rejected social media claims alleging a mismatch between the number of votes cast and registered voters in the recently concluded Bihar Assembly elections, calling the assertions misleading and inaccurate.
Viral posts had suggested that votes polled exceeded the total electorate, pointing to irregularities. The EC clarified that such claims ignored postal ballots, which are part of the official count.
According to the Commission, Bihar’s final electoral roll released on 30 September listed 7.42 crore voters, while the figure after the two phase elections stood at 7.45 crore. In its final index card issued on 17 November, the EC recorded a turnout of 67.13 per cent, the highest on record.
Data showed that 2,01,444 postal ballots were cast, of which 23,918 were rejected. Additionally, 9,10,730 voters across EVMs and postal ballots opted for NOTA.
“Putting together EVM votes and postal ballots, the number of valid voters perfectly matches the official numbers, making the EC data 100 per cent accurate,” the Commission said.
It dismissed the estimated figure of 5,00,29,880 votes cited in viral posts, noting that inclusion of 1,77,526 valid postal ballots reconciles the count with official statistics.
(Inputs from IANS)