Why did Election Commission decide to destroy CCTV footage of polls 45 days after the results?

The Election Commission has decided to cut short the storage period of electronic data recording during polls. The poll body advised state election chiefs to destroy the electronic data 45 days after the results, if it is not challenged in courts.

The Election Commission apparently took the decision to prevent misuse of electronic data to create "malicious narratives". In a recent communication to state poll officers, the Commission directed state authorities to destroy CCTV camera, webcasting and video footage of the election process 45 days after the results, if they are not challenged in courts.

"The recent misuse of this content by non-contestants for spreading misinformation and malicious narratives on social media by selective and out-of-context use of such content, which will not lead to any legal outcome, has prompted a review," the Commission said in a letter to state poll officers. 

In a letter addressed to state chief electoral officers on May 30, the Commission had instructed authorities to record various stages of the election process through multiple recording devices – photography, videography, CCTV, and webcasting during the election process. "If no election petition is filed in respect of a particular constituency, then the said data may be destroyed," the Commission has instructed.

Any individual can challenge a poll outcome in concerned High Courts within 45 days of poll results. The Centre, in December last year, tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents, such as CCTV camera and webcasting footage, and video recordings of candidates, to prevent their misuse. The Union law ministry amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 based on the recommendation.