After the conclusion of six phases of polls for the 486 Lok Sabha seats, the pan-India voter turnout so far has recorded 65.9 per cent, which is lower than the 67.7 per cent recorded during the 2019 elections. However, even though the turnout is lower, the absolute votes polled in this six phases is about 2.38 crore more than the votes polled in these 486 parliamentary constituencies during the 2019 general elections.

As the Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to release the final turnout data for phase 6, the higher voter turnout now than initial estimates on the polling day may lead to a further increase in the absolute number of votes polled this year and also narrow the gap with 2019 in terms of percentage turnout.

According to an analysis of data of absolute number of votes polled this year, which the ECI released May 25 despite the Supreme Court’s refusal to pass an order for the release of the data, it has been found that as many as 57,65,36,217 voters have exercised their franchise this year as against 55,27,34,806 voters in 2019.

The State-wise absolute number of votes polled shows that even though the total voter turnout for 67 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh has been reported to be 57.13 per cent so far, compared with 59 per cent in 2019 (compared with those 67 seats), there is an over a 10 lakh increase in absolute votes polled this year. A similar trend is visible in most of the other States.

But Tamil Nadu has reported a decline in terms of both voter turnout percentages, from 72.4 per cent in 2019 to 70.89 per cent in 2024, as well as the absolute number, from 4.34 crore to 4.07 crore.

All eyes are now on the 57 Lok Sabha seats, which will go to poll on June 1. The final phase of polling and an improvement in voter turnout may take the overall turnout of 2024 to the same level of 67.65 per cent recorded during 2019.

Releasing the absolute number of people who voted in the first five phases, ECI said that out of the 76.41 crore eligible voters in the first five phases of the Lok Sabha polls, as many as 50.72 crore people have cast their vote. Earlier, ECI said that India has the largest electorate in the world at 96.88 crore.

The EC data also showed that 11 crore voters out of 16.64 crore total electors cast their vote in the first phase held on April 19 for 102 seats, the polling percentage being 66.14.

In the second phase held on April 26 for 88 seats, the polling percentage was 66.71, with 10.58 crore people out of the total 15.86 crore eligible voters casting their vote.

The Commission started releasing data from the third phase after businessline on April 30 reported the delay in sharing crucial information as well as withholding those from the official website.

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