India-Elections: More than 10 percent of the world’s population set to vote

The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, along with assembly polls in several states. This announcement sets the stage for the biggest event in a democracy across the world.

The Lok Sabha (lower house of the parliament) elections are set to be held in multiple phases across the country, ensuring a smooth and orderly conduct of the electoral process. In addition to the Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission also announced the schedule for assembly elections in various states. These state-level elections hold immense significance as they will determine the composition of state legislatures.

Starting April 19, 2024,  voting will be carried out in seven stages across 28 states and 8 union territories (a total of 102 constituencies)  across the country via electronic voting system. The results will be announced on June 04, 2024. Almost 970 million people are eligible to vote, which constitutes more than 10 percent of the world’s population. During the announcement on Tuesday, the Election Commission said, “Over 26 million new voters have been included in the electoral roll, of which approximately 14 million are women, surpassing the newly enrolled men by over 15%.”

Pic Source: X Post of the Election Commission of India

For the first time, over 20 million young eligible voters aged 18 to 29 years are called to vote. The majority of them are women, according to the Election Commission. Also, for the first time in India’s electoral history, voters aged above 85 and the disabled, will have the option to vote from their homes.

More than 15 million election officials and security personnel will be deployed in the various stages throughout the country. More than 1 million polling booths will be set-up spanning the length and breath of the seventh largest country in the world. India is about 9 times bigger than Germany.

With the announcement of the election dates, the moral code of conduct is set into place. This provides guidelines for the conduct of candidates as well as political parties. The code is intended to prevent government parties from abusing their position to gain unfair advantages and to prevent corruption.