NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday questioned the practice of showing winning/losing trends 5 to 10 minutes after the official beginning of counting at 8am on election result days.
“Showing winning/losing trends at 8.05am or 8.10am, which is just five or ten minutes after start of counting at 8am is nonsense,” CEC Rajiv Kumar said when asked about the fallout of failed exit poll predictions.The CEC went on to question if these “early” trends are made to justify the exit poll results. “The actual counting starts at 8.30am and the first trends are uploaded on EC website at 9.30am,” the CEC said.
“A major distortion is being created due to Exit Polls and expectations set by it. This is a matter of deliberation and introspection for the Press, especially for electronic media. In the last few elections, 2-3 things are happening simultaneously if we look at the entire canvas together…First, an Exit Poll comes – we don’t govern it … But there is a need for self-introspection, that what was the sample size, where was the survey done, how did the result come and what is my responsibility if I did not match to that result, are there disclosures – all of these need to be seen. There are bodies which govern this…I am sure the time has come that Associations/Bodies which govern, will do some self-regulation…Counting happens roughly on the third day after the elections end,” he said.
“Expectations rise from 6 pm…but there is no scientific base to this in public disclosure. When counting begins, results start pouring at 8.05-8.10 am. This is nonsense. The first counting (of EVMs) begins at 8.30 am…Are the initial trends to justify the Exit Poll?…We start putting the results at 9.30 am on the website…So, when the actual results start coming in, there is a mismatch. That mismatch can lead to serious issues sometimes. The gap between expectations and achievements is nothing but frustration. So, this issue is such that needs some deliberation,” Kumar said.
“The exit polls lead to gap between expectations and actual achievement and this can have serious implications,” CEC Rajiv Kumar said. He hoped for introspection and self-correction by the organisations involved in exit polls and stressed the need for self-regulation.