Subscribe Now! Get features like
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday said that the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 has seen a voter turnout of about 66.95% so far with approximately 451 million people having voted during the first four phases.
Chief election commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar along with election commissioners (ECs) Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu have directed chief electoral officers (CEOs) of the states going to poll in the 5th, 6th, and 7th phases to timely distribute voter information slips to all electors and enhance outreach activities. They have also appealed to celebrities to join in the voter outreach campaigns.
The Commission said it has enhanced targeted interventions to reach out to every eligible voter through celebrities and cricket legend and ECI national icon Sachin Tendulkar, appealing to voters to cast their vote.
On April 30, the ECI published the final voter turnout percentage which showed a sharp increase by about 5-6% as compared to the initial percentage announced. The opposition parties then questioned the ECI for the delay and flagged the alleged discrepancy in the figures as compared to what was reported on the voting days.
On May 10, the ECI in a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge dismissed the allegations of discrepancy in voter turnout data. It said that the voter turnout data was not delayed as it was available on the Voter Turnout App.
However, a petition was moved by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-governmental organisation, for an urgent hearing, following which a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta listed the matter for hearing.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a petition on May 17 seeking immediate release of absolute voter turnout numbers by the Election Commission after there was a delay in publication of the data for the first two polling phases of the Lok Sabha elections.
“Commission strongly believes that partnership and collaboration are essential pillars of the voter awareness programme. It’s really heartening to see that on the Commission’s request, different institutions, influencers, and celebrities having significant reach are working enthusiastically on a pro-bono basis,” said CEC Rajiv Kumar.
Further, he added, a high voter turnout, would be a message from Indian voters to the world, about the strength of Indian Democracy. He urged all the voters to cast their vote in huge numbers and said voting day is not a holiday but a day of pride.