TFP Bureau, Raipur, June 25, 2025: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has successfully implemented its new integrated digital platform, ECINET, during the recently concluded by-elections in five assembly constituencies across Kerala, Gujarat, Punjab, and West Bengal. Aimed at transforming election operations through digitization, ECINET marks a major step toward real-time information dissemination and operational efficiency in the electoral process.
Launched under the leadership of Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi, ECINET consolidates over 40 existing mobile and web-based applications into one unified digital platform. Though still in its early rollout phase, key modules of ECINET were successfully tested during these by-elections and are expected to be fully functional in the coming weeks.
One of the significant improvements brought by ECINET was the real-time uploading of Voter Turnout Reports (VTR)by Presiding Officers (PROs), eliminating the earlier manual reporting process. This led to faster exchange of polling data and enhanced transparency, with final VTR trends made available to the public even before PROs left their respective polling stations.
Another major outcome of ECINET’s implementation is the expedited publication of Index Cards, which summarize vital post-election statistics for each constituency. Traditionally prepared manually and often taking weeks or even months to finalize, these cards were now digitally generated and published within just 72 hours of result declaration. The automation of data fields via ECINET drastically reduced processing time and human error.
The Index Card, a non-statutory statistical reporting tool introduced by the ECI in the late 1980s, serves as a vital resource for researchers, journalists, policy makers, and the general public. It provides comprehensive election data including candidate details, voter turnout, vote shares, gender-based voting trends, and party-wise performance. These reports are now publicly accessible via the ‘By-elections’ tab on the ECI’s official website: https://www.eci.gov.in/statistical-reports.
With ECINET, the ECI is laying the foundation for a more transparent, tech-enabled electoral system, setting a precedent for future general and state elections.
