EC finally releases voter data

The Election Commission finally released the number of votes cast in the first five phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Prior to this, the poll body had only been releasing approximates of this turnout data, instead of absolute numbers—which had led to massive backlash against the commission. A total of 507 million (50.7 crore) voters voted in the first five phases of the elections. This is much lower than 2019, which recorded 701 million (70.1 crore) voters in the same number of phases. The Wire has a phase-by-phase breakdown. The Scroll looks at the widening gap between the provisional and final numbers.  

Speaking of voter turnout: Delhi voted in the sixth phase of the elections on Saturday along with seven other states and constituencies including Haryana and West Bengal. This phase registered a turnout of 61.2%. A reminder: The BJP won all seven seats in Delhi in 2019. (NDTV)

Meanwhile, in Baramulla: The constituency in Jammu and Kashmir saw a record turnout of 59% on Monday. This broke the previous turnout record of 46.65% in 1996. One possible reason for this voter enthusiasm is the need for change:

People voted this time to see development and prosperity in Sopore, which is facing both an acute water and power crisis. Youth also came forward,” Mr. [Mohammad Ashra] Ganie said.

 

Several voters in the town talked about their concerns, including the harsh process of police verification in jobs, sealing of houses and denial of passports for being relatives of militants and separatists. “We hope the elected representatives will put an end to this harsh process,” a voter said, on the condition of anonymity.

FYI: National Conference’s Omar Abdullah is contesting from this constituency. The other major candidate is Sajad Lone from the J&K People’s Conference and Engineer Rashid from the Awami Ittehad Party—who has been in prison since 2019 after being slapped with the UAPA. The Hindu has more. 

Non-shocker: Meta approved hate ads in India

Civil rights groups tested Meta’s safety features on its ad platform during the elections. They submitted 22 ads that contained “real hate speech and disinformation prevalent in India” in five different languages. Meta outright approved 14 of them—and three were greenlit after small tweaks—not related to their messaging.

Here’s a taste of what got past Meta’s ‘safety net’: 

Facebook approved adverts containing known slurs towards Muslims in India, such as “let’s burn this vermin” and “Hindu blood is spilling, these invaders must be burned”, as well as Hindu supremacist language and disinformation about political leaders. Another approved advert called for the execution of an opposition leader they falsely claimed wanted to “erase Hindus from India”, next to a picture of a Pakistan flag.

It also failed to detect AI-manipulated images in the ads—that violated Meta’s own policies. The company offered no response other than to underline its ‘authorisation processes’—which clearly don’t work.

Why India matters: Here’s what Meta said before the elections:

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, recently described India’s election as “a huge, huge test for us” and said the company had done “months and months and months of preparation in India”. Meta said it had expanded its network of local and third-party factcheckers across all platforms, and was working across 20 Indian languages.

The Guardian has this must-read exclusive.

Funded by taxpayer paisa: BJP election ads

Last year, the budget of the Central Bureau of Communications (CBC)—the union government’s advertising agency—got an unexpected and hefty boost. It skyrocketed by 275%—from Rs 2 billion ($24 million) to about Rs 7.5 billion ($90 million). Then the government adopted a new policy that allows CBC to run digital ads—along with traditional print campaigns.

Thanks to this excellent prep work, the CBC has spent Rs 387 million ($4.65 million) on Google ads—between November and March. What kinds of ads could these possibly be?

In one such advertisement, aired on February 23, an actor portraying a young entrepreneur reassures a father apprehensive about his son’s career choice by telling him, “Papa, there is Modi’s guarantee. Modi ji has promised that he will make India one of the places with the most unicorn startups.” Towards the end, he confidently asserts that “thanks to Modi’s guarantee, every startup will start in India”.

Colour us shocked. FYI: the ad spends were revealed by an Al Jazeera investigation.

Bad employment news in Calcutta

The Calcutta High Court has cancelled caste certificates for 77 Muslim communities—who were classified as Other Backward Caste by the West Bengal government. This means they will not be eligible for reserved government jobs—or other OBC benefits. The Court’s rationale:

“The selection of 77 classes of Muslims as backward is an affront to the Muslim community as a whole. This court’s mind is not free from doubt that the said community has been treated as a commodity for political ends. This is clear from the chain of events that led to the classification of the 77 classes as OBCs and their inclusion to be treated as a vote bank,” the order said.

The Print has more details. 

A list of good reads

One: Abhik Deb in Scroll reports on the challenges being faced by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is battling anti-incumbency and a shrinking support base.

Two: Gilles Verniers in The Carnegie Endowment has a must-read data story on why incumbent MPs rarely win again in elections. 

Three: Vox reports that the Indian government is trying to silence its American critics by allegedly targeting family members. 

Four: Mitali Mukherjee in Frontline (login required) analyses the role of inflation in these elections.