New Delhi: Phase 1 of the general elections this year saw a voter turnout of 66.14%, while Phase 2 saw a turnout of 66.71%, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Tuesday (April 30).
The first phase was conducted eleven days ago on April 19 and the second phase four days ago on April 26.
In the first phase, Bihar registered the lowest turnout of all states and Union territories at 49.26%, while Lakshadweep recorded the highest turnout at 84.16%.
As for the second phase, Uttar Pradesh saw the lowest turnout at 55.19% while Manipur saw the highest at 84.85%.
The ECI also released gender-wise turnout figures for each constituency that has voted so far as well as in aggregate per state or Union territory.
No direct figures on total electors and voters, or comparisons with 2019
Some have noted that in its figures released on Tuesday, the ECI only provided turnout percentages and did not include the total number of electors in a constituency or the number of people who voted in a given phase.
Journalist Poonam Agarwal posted on X (formerly Twitter) that in 2019, ECI provided these figures for the first phase of polls but did not do so this time around.
The Hindu Businessline has noted that while the total number of electors per Lok Sabha constituency is not available on the commission’s website, information on the number of electors per booth in assembly segments are available, although the websites for the state election commissions of Bihar, Delhi and Odisha were not displaying this data.
Agarwal also noted that the ECI provided turnout figures for each constituency – also aggregated at the state or Union territory level – from the 2019 general elections, though it did not directly compare current figures with the previous election’s figures as it did in 2019.
In the 2019 Loksabha elections the #ElectionCommission uploaded Voter Turnout data in numbers (EVM votes polled) & also compared it with the 2014 LS elections.
But a drastic change has occured in the #LokSabhaElections2024 . Why are they providing votes polled data in %? Why not… pic.twitter.com/NWXuvXOwBe
— Poonam Agarwal (@poonamjourno) April 30, 2024
Delay in phase 1 figures and difference between Phase 2 figures raise questions
The commission’s final data for the turnout in phase 1 comes 11 days after voting in that phase took place, terming some to call this “unusual”.
The ECI did not say in its press release on Tuesday what caused the delay.
Although the final turnout for phase 2 is a reported 66.71%, the ECI pegged the approximate turnout as of 7 pm on April 26 at 60.96% in an official press release.
Although the jump of close to six percentage points is not nearly as high as the 14.65 percentage point increase that was witnessed in Bangladesh’s elections earlier this year, some have questioned it nonetheless, saying it warrants an explanation on the commission’s behalf.
“Five percent isn’t a small increase. Shouldn’t there be an explanation?”, journalist Parth M.N. posted on X.
Other estimates from later on April 26 estimated a higher turnout for the second phase. PTI reported at 8 pm that evening, citing the ECI, that the turnout for the second phase was 63.5%.
The last official communication from the poll body regarding the turnout that day seems to be its 7 pm estimate.
The ECI also has a voter turnout app where it provides approximate turnout figures per constituency and updates it at certain intervals.
By 7 pm on April 27, the Indian Express had reported citing ECI sources that the turnout had gone up to 66.7% – the same as the figure released this Tuesday.
For phase 1, the commission’s press release did not specify what its estimated turnout was as of 7 pm on the day of voting, saying only that it was “over 60%”.
Later on April 19, PTI cited the ECI’s turnout figure for that day as being 62.37%, and other reports later still pegged it at 65.5%.
Eleven Days After Phase 1, ECI Says Turnout Was 66.14%; Pegs Phase 2 Turnout at 66.71%
32
0
30.04.2024
New Delhi: Phase 1 of the general elections this year saw a voter turnout of 66.14%, while Phase 2 saw a turnout of 66.71%, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Tuesday (April 30).
The first phase was conducted eleven days ago on April 19 and the second phase four days ago on April 26.
In the first phase, Bihar registered the lowest turnout of all states and Union territories at 49.26%, while Lakshadweep recorded the highest turnout at 84.16%.
As for the second phase, Uttar Pradesh saw the lowest turnout at 55.19% while Manipur saw the highest at 84.85%.
The ECI also released gender-wise turnout figures for each constituency that has voted so far as well as in aggregate per state or Union territory.
No direct figures on total electors and voters, or comparisons with 2019
Some have noted that in its figures released on Tuesday, the ECI only provided turnout percentages and did not include the total number of electors in a constituency or the number of people who voted in a given........
© The Wire
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Rami G Khouri
Mort Laitner
Rachel Marsden
Donald Low
Bradley Blankenship
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
Abbas Juma
Michael Kwet
