97.8 crore voters, 1.5 crore polling officials: The big numbers to know ahead of Lok Sabha election

The dates of the much-awaited Lok Sabha elections 2024 were announced by the Election Commission of India on Saturday.

Like the 2019 general elections, the polls this year will be also held in seven phases, starting from 19 April till 1 June, with the counting on 4 June.

Out of the total 543 seats, 412 are for general candidates, 84 are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) representatives and 47 for Scheduled Tribe (ST) representatives.

Ahead of the announcement of the schedule for the general and the state assembly elections, Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar listed several important numbers related to the polls.

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Let’s take a closer look.

The number of voters

CEC Kumar said as many as 96.8 crore citizens had registered themselves to vote for the most-awaited election of the year. He said there are 97.8 crore eligible voters of which 49.72 crore were male voters and 47.1 crore were female voters.

In 2019 polls, there were a total of 91.2 crore eligible voters with about 43.8 crore female voters and nearly 47.3 crore male voters.

In the electoral rolls, there are at least 1.82 crore first-time voters.

Over two lakh voters who were enrolled were older than 100.

There are 19.74 crore young voters in the 20 to 29 age group.

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Polling booth numbers

The EC will set up 10.5 lakh polling stations across India and over 1.5 crore polling officials will be deployed.

“Adequate number of CAPF would be deployed to control muscle power. We are determined to reduce muscle power this time. There should be no place of violence in elections, and bloodbath should not happen at all,” Kumar said, according to Hindustan Times.

Over 55 lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be deployed and about four lakh vehicles will be used.

For the elections, more than 2,100 general, police, and expenditure observers are being sent out.

The polling body has carried out more than 400 assembly polls, 16 presidential and 16 vice-presidential surveys, and 17 general elections.

More women voters than men

Giving more specifics, Kumar stated that there were more female voters than male voters in at least 12 states and Union Territories.

He said gender ratio is 948 women to 1000 men in the country which is a “very healthy sign” of women participation in the electoral cycle.

“There are 12 such states where the gender ratio is over 1000 which means that number of women voters is more than males and 1.89 crore new voters have joined, out of them in the age group of 18-19 years there are 85.3 lakh women electors so they are going side by side so that is a very healthy sign that women are also participating equally in our elections,” he said.

He did not give names of the states.

Over 85 lakh first-time women voters will participate in the Lok Sabha election.

Rise in people with disabilities voters

Kumar said there are 88.4 lakh people with disabilities (PwDs) registered in the electoral roll.

“Voters with 40 per cent benchmark disability can vote from home. Also, transport facility will be provided to people with disabilities to vote,” he said.

In 2019, a total of 62.63 lakh PwDs were registered within an electorate of 91 crore.

Number of transgender voters

Over 48,000 transgenders are eligible to vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The number of transgender voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls was 39,075 with the maximum number of them from Uttar Pradesh (7,797) followed by Tamil Nadu (5,793) and Karnataka (4,826). The states and Union territories with no transgender voters were Arunachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Goa, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim.

According to the Election Commission, to abide by its “no voter be left behind” mandate, necessary efforts have been undertaken to ensure the inclusion of all sections of society in the electoral process.

“Enrolment of transgenders in the electoral rolls and motivating them to participate in the electoral process has been a huge challenge for the Election Commission. Numerous measures have been adopted to spread awareness among the transgenders, resulting in an increase in the number of third gender electors,” read the polls panel’s report on the 2019 general elections.

Cash seizure

According to the poll commission, cash seizure increased by 835 percent to Rs 3,400 crore in 11 states during the 2022–2023 election cycle when compared to the previous five years.

“Enforcement agencies are directed to crack down on illicit money, liquor, drugs, and freebies, staying vigilant against disruptive methods,” the poll body said.

With inputs from agencies