Chart: As India votes, these states see highest voter turnout in over 20 years

It seems the motivation to vote is a little higher among the Indian voting populace this time around.

According to media reports, high voter turnout was recorded in the 91 constituencies across 14 states and union territories that went to polls in the third and significant phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

According to an analysis by brokerage Motilal Oswal, earlyindications point to a sharp increase in voter turnout, particularly for states where the ratio has been low in the 2009 elections.

The reports notes that for the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, voter turnout, so far, has been the highest since 1991.

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Some of these states, such as Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh – have historically had very low voter turnouts. The urban centres of Chandigarh and Delhi have also seen a significant rise in voter turnouts this time around.

In addition, voter turnout remained high in states where voter participation has been historically high, such as Assam, Nagaland and Tripura.

States with low voter turnout ratio in 2009 has seen a sharp increase in voter participation

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The 10 seats of Uttar Pradesh, which went to polls, reported a record turnout of 65 percent as compared to 51.30 percent recorded in the last LS polls.

The Jammu seat also saw an impressive turnout of 66.29 per cent – 17 per cent higher than in 2009.

The turnout in Delhi was 64 percent, up by 12 percent as against 2009 elections.

So far, 105 seats of 21 states have gone for polling in three phases
By last count, the voter turnout ratio stood at 58 percent during the 2009 general elections.

>In the case of assembly elections, voter participation has jumped significantly and stands at its highest level since the 1980s.

The current general elections will witness the highest addition of new voters – 102 million. About 24 million are first-time voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years.

High voter turnouts are likely to have implications for the election results. Do they imply strong winds of change in India’s political landscape?