NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on Thursday released world’s largest
electoral dataset
for 2024 Lok Sabha and four state assembly polls held this year.
The move was aimed at enhancing “public trust” in the country’s electoral system at a time when the opposition has been raising doubts over its credibility after it changed its rules to restrict public access to CCTV footage of polling booths and other poll documents.
“This suo moto initiative, is to enhance the public trust that constitutes the underpinning of India’s electoral system,” the poll body said in the statement.
“The release of extensive data sets is also in furtherance of the Commission’s policy of maximum disclosure, greater transparency and accessibility of election-related data for all stakeholders including academia, research and the general public,” it added.
Here are key takeaways from the report:
- According to the data, the
2024 Lok Sabha Elections set a world record with 64.64 crore voters casting their ballots. The number of nominations filed increased to 12,459, up from 11,692 in 2019. Additionally, 8,360 candidates are contesting this year, compared to 8,054 in 2019. - The report brought to light that female voters outpaced male participation, marking a significant shift towards greater women enfranchisement. Female voter turnout reached 65.78%, slightly higher than the 65.55% for male voters. Additionally, the number of female candidates contesting the election rose to 800, up from 726 in 2019.
- The data reveals a significant 46.4% increase in third-gender electors compared to 2019. In 2024, the number of registered Persons with Disabilities (PwD) electors reached 90,28,696, up from 61,67,482 in 2019. Additionally, repolling occurred in only 40 polling stations (0.0038% of the total 10.52 lakh stations), a sharp decline from 540 stations in 2019.
- 3,921 independent candidates contested, with only 7 being elected. 3,905 independent candidates forfeited their deposits. Independent candidates received 2.79% of the total valid votes. 279 independent female candidates contested the election.
- The Dhubri parliamentary constituency in Assam recorded the highest voter turnout at 92.3%, while Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir saw the lowest at 38.7%, a significant improvement from 14.4% in 2019.
- The Election Commission reported that over 1.19 lakh overseas Indian electors were registered this year, including 1.06 lakh men, 12,950 women, and 13 from the third gender, a rise from 99,844 overseas electors in 2019. These electors are Indian citizens living abroad for various reasons but remain eligible to vote in India.
- Six national parties participated in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, securing 63.35% of the total valid votes.
- Surat, Gujarat was the only constituency with an uncontested election.
