A comparison between the total voter turnout of phase one in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections reveals a drop of 1.86 crore voters, according to the Election Commission of India’s data.
According to a press release by the Election Commission on April 13, 2019 a total of 9,13,79,409 electors cast their votes in the first phase conducted on April 11 in 91 seats. In comparison, according to the data made available by the poll body on Saturday (May 25), a total of 11,00,52,103 votes were cast in the first phase conducted on April 19, 2024 in 102 constituencies.
This implies a dip of 1.86 (1,86,72,694) votes.
The figures in 2019 included 4,64,30,614 male, 4,49,20,571 female and 1395 electors from the third gender who cast their votes. The 2024 figures do not provide a gender-wise breakdown.
The total number of eligible voters in the country shot up from 89.6 crores in 2019 to 96.8 crores in 2024, according to a release by the Election Commission in February.
In terms of percentage figures, in 2024 in the first phase voter turnout was recorded at 66.14% while in the second phase it was at 66.71%, according to a release by the Election Commission on April 30.
In comparison, in the first phase in 2019, in terms of percentage turnout 69.43% was recorded. In phase two of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections 67.84% turnout was recorded in the country in 95 seats.
In 2019, while the Election Commission released a document including constituency-wise total absolute numbers of voter turnout for the elections, a phase-wise breakdown is not available in that document. The only phase-wise note on absolute numbers of 2019 is available on the first phase at present.
In comparison to the first five phases in 2019, in 2024 a lower voter turnout was recorded in 107 out of the 427 i.e. 25% of the total constituencies, The Hindu Business Line has reported. Among the states and Union territories that recorded a lower voter turnout in absolute numbers are Kerala, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Andaman and Nicobar. The number of voters in Kerala in the 2024 polls reduced by 6 lakh compared to 2019, Uttarakhand recorded 90,000 fewer voters, and crisis-hit Manipur had 40,000 fewer people come out to vote this LS polls. In terms of constituencies, Nagaland, Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, and Sidhi in Madhya Pradesh registered the highest drop in absolute number of voters compared to the 2019 elections.
The overall voter turnout in the first five phases in 2024 has been recorded at 66.4% while in 2019 it was recorded at 68.2%.
Data released after sustained pressure
The data was released on Saturday, just two days after the Election Commission told the Supreme Court that there is no legal mandate for the commission to disclose voter turnout data based on Form 17C, or the record of votes polled in each polling station, and that such disclosure could be susceptible to misuse.
The elections body has filed the affidavit in response to an application filed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Common Cause seeking immediate publication of voter turnout data in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The Supreme Court on Friday, refused to direct the Election Commission to publish voter turnout data and said that a “hands-off” approach during the elections was required as it listed the matter to be heard after summer vacations.
An earlier version of this piece had considered the number of eligible voters released by the PIB for each phase of the 2019 elections, instead of the absolute numbers of the post-election turnout to arrive at an incorrect conclusion. The error is regretted.
