January 22, 2026

Election Results Guide Access Data from 1952 to 2024 & Decode Form 20

🗳️ 24x7 Resource: Election Results Archive

The Scorecard Hub

Access the official verdict of the Indian voter.

Live Results Portal: results.eci.gov.in (Active only during counting).
Historical Archive: old.eci.gov.in
Key Document: Statistical Reports (1951–Present).
Motto: "The Mandate is Supreme."

📊 PRO TIP: The most valuable document in Indian elections is "Form 20." It breaks down the result not just by constituency, but by Polling Booth. You can literally see how your specific street voted. Read below to learn how to find it.

Introduction: The Ledger of Democracy

(Why Past Results Predict Future Trends)

On Counting Day, the nation is glued to TV screens. But once the winner is declared, the real analysis begins.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) maintains one of the world's most detailed electoral archives. It holds the data of every vote cast in independent India.

Want to know the margin of victory for Indira Gandhi in 1977?
Want to see how the NOTA (None of The Above) vote share has grown in Naxal-affected areas?
Want to check if the "Silent Voter" (Women) turned the tide in Bihar?

For a data journalist or a political strategist, this archive is the battlefield. It allows you to move beyond "Winner/Loser" and understand Vote Share, Swing Factors, and Strike Rates.

This guide helps you navigate the clunky ECI website to find these gems. We will decode the difference between "General" and "Postal" votes, explain the statistical significance of "Forfeited Deposits," and guide you to the holy grail of micro-targeting: The Booth Level Data.

🏛️ The Archive: How to Time Travel (1951-2024)

The ECI has digitized everything.

Step 1: Visit the "Statistical Reports" Section

Go to: old.eci.gov.in -> "Statistical Reports".
Select Election: You can choose General Election (Lok Sabha) or State Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha).
Select Year: Pick any year, e.g., 1952.

Step 2: Download the PDF

The ECI releases a massive PDF for every election. It contains:

List of Participating Parties: (See the rise and fall of parties like Swatantra Party or Jan Sangh).
Successful Candidates: The full list of MPs/MLAs.
Detailed Results: Votes Polled, Valid Votes, Rejected Votes.

Step 3: The "Excel" Era

For elections after 2009, the ECI provides raw data in Excel/CSV format. This is crucial for analysts who want to run their own code or graphs without manually typing numbers from a PDF.

🔍 The "Form 20": The Goldmine of Micro-Data

This is the secret weapon of election consultants (like IPAC or I-PAC).

What is Form 20? When votes are counted, they are counted EVM by EVM. Since each EVM corresponds to one Polling Booth (roughly 1000 voters), the result sheet (Form 20) tells you exactly how that specific neighborhood voted.

How to Find It:

This is not usually on the main ECI page.
Go to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) website of the specific State (e.g., ceouttarpradesh.nic.in or ceotamilnadu.nic.in).
Look for the tab "Election Results" -> "Detailed Results" -> "Form 20".
Download the PDF for your constituency.

Example Use Case: You can look up "Booth No. 12 (Govt Primary School, Village X)" and see:

BJP: 400 votes
Congress: 20 votes
SP: 300 votes
Analysis: This village is polarized between BJP and SP. Congress has no base here.

📈 Decoding the Metrics: Terms You Must Know

To read the results like a pro, you must understand the jargon.

The Concept: Seats don't tell the full story. A party can win 300 seats with just 37% of the votes (First Past the Post system).
Why it matters: Tracking vote share tells you if a party is actually growing or just benefiting from a divided opposition.

2. Swing

The Concept: The percentage of voters who switched from Party A to Party B compared to the last election.
Calculation: If Party A got 30% in 2019 and 35% in 2024, the Positive Swing is +5%.

3. Margin of Victory

The Concept: The difference in votes between the Winner (Rank 1) and the Runner-up (Rank 2).
Significance: A "Low Margin" seat (e.g., <2000 votes) is a "Battleground Seat" for the next election. Parties focus their resources here.

4. Forfeited Deposit ("Zamanat Zapt")

The Rule: Every candidate pays a security deposit (₹25,000 for Lok Sabha).
The Condition: If they fail to secure one-sixth (16.66%) of the total valid votes polled, they lose this money.
The Insult: Losing the deposit is considered a humiliating defeat, indicating the candidate had no real support base.

📱 The "Voter Turnout" App

During the election, the most critical number is Turnout (How many people voted).

The App: ECI’s Voter Turnout App gives real-time data (9 AM, 11 AM, 1 PM...) on polling day.
Gender Data: It shows Male vs. Female turnout separately.
Trend: In recent years, Female turnout has often exceeded Male turnout in states like Bihar and Odisha, changing the outcome.

🗳️ NOTA: The Protest Vote

Introduced in 2013, NOTA (None of The Above) is an option on the EVM.

The Symbol: A ballot paper with a black cross.
The Impact: NOTA has no "electoral value." Even if NOTA gets 99 votes and Candidate A gets 1 vote, Candidate A wins.
Why track it? High NOTA percentage (sometimes >5% in tribal areas) indicates deep disillusionment with the political class.

📬 Postal Ballots: The "ETPBS"

When counting starts, the first trend comes from Postal Ballots.

Who votes? Service Voters (Army/Paramilitary), Election Duty Staff, and Senior Citizens (85+).
The Trend: Postal ballots often differ from the EVM count because government employees/soldiers may have different political leanings than the general public.
The Code: This system is called ETPBS (Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System).

🔗 Important Links & Resources

Your data analytics toolkit:

ECI Results Portal: results.eci.gov.in
Statistical Reports Archive: eci.gov.in/statistical-report
State CEOs Directory: Find your State ECI (For Form 20).

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. Can I verify if my own vote was counted?

No. To maintain the Secrecy of the Ballot, there is no way for an individual voter to trace their specific vote. You can only see the total count of your booth.

Q2. What is the "VVPAT" verification count?

The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is a slip printed by the machine.

The Rule: The Supreme Court mandates that 5 Random Polling Stations per constituency must have their VVPAT slips physically counted and matched with the EVM count.
Result: If there is a mismatch (extremely rare), the VVPAT slip count prevails.

Q3. How long is the data stored?

Forever. The ECI archives result data permanently. However, the EVMs themselves are "scrubbed" (cleared) after the election petition period (45 days) ends, so they can be reused.

Q4. What is the difference between "Votes Polled" and "Valid Votes"?

Votes Polled: Total buttons pressed.
Valid Votes: Votes Polled minus "Test Votes" or "Tendered Votes" (special categories) and rejected Postal Ballots. The winner is decided based on Valid Votes.

Q5. Can I get raw data for research?

Yes. The ECI often shares metadata with researchers. Alternatively, the CSDS-Lokniti (Centre for the Study of Developing Societies) maintains a massive, cleaned-up dataset of survey-based election data which complements the ECI's raw numbers.

Bookmark this page. Numbers don't lie, but you need to know how to read them.