About 451m Indians have voted so far in parliamentary elections: EC
International Desk
A woman casts her ballot at a polling station during the first phase of voting of India's general elections in Sanchor village near Parbatsar town in Rajasthan state on 19 April 2024. Photo: AFP
Nearly 451 million people cast their votes in the first four phases of India’s parliamentary elections, the Election Commission (EC) said on Thursday, releasing for the first time the turnout in absolute numbers.
This works out to about 66.95% of the nearly 970 million voters India has, the commission said.
This is the first time the EC has come out with the figures in absolute terms since the first phase of voting began on 19 April. Till today, the EC has been putting out the turnout in percentage terms.
The opposition has recently demanded that the EC come out with the total number of voters who have cast their votes so far.
Voting has been completed in four phases covering 379 of the total of 543 Lok Sabha seats. The remaining phases of the seven-phased voting will be held on 20 May, 25 May, and 1 June before counting is taken up on 4 June.
The EC called upon voters to come out and vote in large numbers in the coming phases, saying, “A high voter turnout is a message from Indian voters to the world at large.”
