Today marks the start of the first round of voting for 102 seats in 21 states and UTs as well as 92 assembly seats in the state assembly elections for Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
More than 16.63 crore voters are expected to cast ballots today at 1.87 lakh polling places, with more than 18 lakh poll workers deployed. A total of 35.67 lakh individuals are registered as first-time voters.
In addition, 3.51 crore young voters in the 20–29 age range are registered to vote. According to the electoral board, around 1 lakh automobiles, 84 special trains, and 41 helicopters had been used to carry poll workers and security personnel.
Micro observers will be stationed at every voting place, and webcasting will occur at almost half of them. Days before the polls, 361 observers—127 general observers, 67 police observers, and 167 expenditure observers—have already descended into their areas.
Voting from home is an option for around 14.14 lakh registered voters 85 years of age and above and 13.89 lakh PwD voters in 102 PCs.
ECI reports that there has already been a lot of favourable response regarding the optional Home Voting Option. Today marks the beginning and end of elections in the following states: Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Andaman & Nicobar islands, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.
There will be two voting stages for Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tripura, and Manipur. Elections in Assam and Chhattisgarh will take place in three stages, while polling in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand will take place in four phases.
Phase 2 will see 89 Lok Sabha seats go to the polls across 13 states/UTs. Kerala will hold elections for all 20 seats on April 26 during the second phase of the election process.
There will be seven stages to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with the first one taking place on April 19 and the other ones on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. The vote count will be held on June 4.
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