Today, the Supreme Court is set to hear a PIL challenging the Election Commission's decision to raise the maximum number of voters per polling station from 1,200 to 1,500.  

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar will examine the PIL filed by Indu Prakash Singh, who has contested two communications issued by the Election Commission in August 2024, implementing the increase across all constituencies in India.  

Singh argued that the decision was arbitrary and lacked any supporting data. On October 24, the court declined to issue a notice to the Election Commission but allowed the petitioner to provide a copy of the petition to its standing counsel to obtain the Commission's perspective on the matter.  

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the petitioner, argued that increasing the voter limit to 1,500 could disadvantage underprivileged groups by causing longer wait times and deterring participation. He also highlighted concerns about lengthy queues discouraging voters from exercising their franchise.  

The bench observed that the Election Commission aims to enhance voter participation and noted that using EVMs significantly reduces the time required to cast a vote compared to traditional ballot papers. It added that the Commission is working to minimize voting time by deploying more EVMs at polling stations.  

The petitioner has argued that the Election Commission's decision could adversely affect voters during upcoming assembly elections in Bihar and Delhi, as well as those held in Maharashtra, Jharkhand (now concluded), and future elections.  

Singh highlighted that elections are typically held over a span of 11 hours, with an average time of 60 to 90 seconds required for each voter to cast their ballot. Based on this, he stated that between 660 and 490 voters can cast their vote in a day at a polling station equipped with one EVM.  

Taking into account an average voter turnout of 65.70%, Singh suggested that a polling station designed for 1,000 electors would likely see around 650 voters casting their ballots. He also pointed out that some polling booths experience significantly higher turnout rates, ranging from 85-90%.

"In such a situation, about 20 per cent of voters will either end up standing in the queue beyond the voting hours or due to long waiting times, will abandon exercising their right to vote. Neither is acceptable in a progressive republic or a democracy," the PIL said.