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Nearly 1 Billion Voters Head To The Polls In India—What To Know About The World's Largest-Ever Election

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Updated Apr 19, 2024, 08:33am EDT

Topline

Millions of people across several states and territories in India went to the polls Friday, as the world’s most populous nation began its general elections, a six-week process that marks the biggest democratic exercise in history with nearly a billion eligible voters.

Key Facts

968.8 million people are eligible to cast their vote in the general elections, according to India’s electoral commission, which called it the “largest electorate in the world.”

Voting will be held across seven phases over six weeks—from April 19 to June 1—in the country’s 28 states and 8 union territories.

Voters across 543 electoral constituencies will elect a legislator to represent them at the Lok Sabha— the lower house of India’s Parliament.

More than 2,700 political parties are registered with the electoral commission and while the total number of candidates has not been released for this year, more than 8,000 candidates contested the 2019 general elections.

Election officials are expecting to set up 1.2 million polling booths across India.

The main contenders, however, are the ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a coalition of national and regional opposition parties who have come together under the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or INDIA banner.

News Peg

Polls are being conducted across 21 states and territories on Friday, covering 102 of the 543 constituencies. This includes all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu—the most populous state in South India. As of 3 p.m. local time, the overall turnout stood at around 50%.

Tangent

The electorate will include 18.5 million voters aged either 18 or 19 and 197.4 million in their 20s. Additionally, the voter rolls include 48,044 voters classified as third gender, while 497 million are male and 471 million are female voters.

Surprising Fact

The Election Commission is required to ensure polling booth access even to people living the country’s remotest parts. In previous elections, this has included setting up the world’s highest polling station at Tashigang, located at an altitude of 15,256 feet in the mountainous North India state of Himachal Pradesh. In 2019, five polling officials trekked deep into the Gir forest in Gujarat to allow Bharatdas Darshandas—the lone caretaker of a temple in the forest—to cast his vote.

Big Number

67.40%. That was the total turnout of voters in the 2019 general elections, which had an eligible electorate of 896 million.

Crucial Quote

"In our great democracy, elections belong to you, the choice belongs to you... you are deciding the government. You are doing it for your sake, for your family and children, for your village or town and, of course, for the country," Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said in a video statement on social media.

Further Reading

2024 Is The Biggest Election Year In History—Here Are The Countries Going To The Polls This Year (Forbes)

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