Lok Sabha Elections: Phase V [Voter Turnout Review]

Almost There!

After phase five of voting, the General election 2024 is in its final stage. In these final stages, we have seen aggressive campaigning by both sides of the parties. In the fifth phase, 49 constituencies in 8 States and Union Territories (UTs) witnessed voting. Despite the fewer constituencies in this phase, over 8.95 crore people, including 4.26 crore females and 5,409 transgender electors, voted in this round, and 9.47 lakh polling officials were deployed across 94,732 polling stations.

Voter Turnout Statistics

Following are the voter turnout statistics shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on its Voter Turnout app.

Sr. No.	State	No. of PC’s	Turnout %
Sr. No.	State	No. of PC’s	2024	2019*
1	Bihar	5	59.76	58.1
2	Jammu and Kashmir	1	59.10	49.3
3	Jharkhand	3	63.21	69.1
4	Ladakh	1	71.82	76.4
5	Maharashtra	13	56.89	64.1
6	Odisha	5	73.50	76.1
7	Uttar Pradesh	14	58.02	60.5
8	West Bengal	7	78.42	78.6
	Overall	49	65.68

*overall turnout for all the phases in 2019

Region-wise Analysis:

North:

Baramulla constituency of Jammu and Kashmir went under polling. 59.1 percent of voting was observed in the Parliamentary constituency of Baramulla. In the last elections in 2019, the voting percentage stood at a mere 38.9 percent. This is a significant jump, considering these are the first elections post-abrogation of Article 370.
The newly formed UT of Ladakh had its sole constituency going for the election. It recorded 71.82 percent voting, less than that in 2019, when it was at 76.4 percent.

In this phase, 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh and 5 in Bihar were up for polling. Uttar Pradesh continues to witness a lower turnout than the last edition. The cumulative voting average of Uttar Pradesh in 2019 was 66.34 percent; this phase saw 58.02 percent, which, however, is a small improvement over the last phases. Seats such as Lucknow, Rae Bareli, and Amethi, which attract the attention of the nation for the candidates, went for the poll in this phase. Lucknow saw a voter turnout of 52.28 percent, compared to 58 percent in 2019. Rae Bareli and Amethi, respectively, had a voter turnout of 58.12 percent and 54.34 percent. In 2019, each saw a turnout of 59.5 percent and 55.6 percent, respectively. Faizabad, which has an assembly constituency in Ayodhya, also faced polls with a voting turnout of 59.14 percent, a slight decrease from 61.5 percent in 2019.

In all 5 constituencies, Bihar experienced a slight increase in voting, with an overall state voter turnout of 59.76 percent.

East:

Seven constituencies in West Bengal were included in phase five. Bengal has the highest voter turnout in this phase. The state turnout in this phase was 78.42 percent; marginally lower than the previous overall count of 78.6 percent.

Jharkhand underwent polling in three of its constituencies. Each witnessed a drop in voting compared to 2019. Constituencies of Chatra with 63.69 percent against 67.9 percent in 2019, Kodarma with 61.81 percent versus 70.3 percent, and Hazaribagh at 64.39 percent against 71.7 percent in 2019.

Five constituencies in Odisha had an overall voter turnout of 73.5 percent.

West
The trend of low voter turnout continued in the state of Maharashtra. Important city centers in Maharashtra were part of phase five. All six constituencies in Mumbai were polled on Monday. Apart from Mumbai, other highly competitive seats in Thane, Kalyan, and Nashik were up for contest.

Constituency-wise voting in Mumbai against in 2019:

Sr. No.	Constituency Name	Turnout
		2024	2019
1	Mumbai North	57.02%	64.10%
2	Mumbai, North West	54.84%	50.30%
3	Mumbai, North East	56.37%	60.30%
4	Mumbai North Central	51.98%	56.70%
5	Mumbai South Central	53.6%	58.40%
6	Mumbai South	50.06%	53.10%

With this phase, polling has ended in all 48 seats of Maharashtra, which has seen tremendous turmoil in its political landscape.

Conclusion

Apathy amongst the urban electorate has been the case in the current elections. The voting percentage in urban centers has been significantly low, not only compared to the state turnout but even less than the previous edition’s percentage.

In Maharashtra, Mumbai North turnout was 57.02 percent against 60.09 percent in 2019, Mumbai North Central polled 51.98 percent against 53.68 percent in 2019, and Mumbai South Central recorded 53.60 percent against 55.4 percent in 2019. Lucknow saw 52.28 percent polling on May 13, 2.5 percentage points lower than the 2019 figure. Even West Bengal, which recorded high turnouts, showed a dip in Howrah at 71.73 percent, against 74.83 percent in 2019.

Gandhinagar saw 59.8 percent polling, much less than 66.08 percent in 2019. The figure was 54.72 percent in Ahmedabad East against its 2019 percentage of 61.76 percent. In Ahmedabad West, the trend was similar, with 55.45 percent voting as opposed to 60.8 percent in 2019. In Indore, where only 61.67 percent voted against 69.33 percent in 2019.

One promising trend witnessed is the increasing participation of women voters across the phases. In the fifth phase, female voter turnout was 63 percent, and 61.48 percent of men exercised their franchise in six States and two Union Territories on May 20, 2024. Total female voter turnout slightly exceeded that of males, reaching 67.18 percent compared to 67.02 percent in the last general elections. The registration of women voters for the ongoing polls saw a spike of 7.5 percent, from 438 million in 2019 to 471 million in 2024. While the increase in registered male voters was five percent. This may affect the overall voting patterns, as traditionally, women’s voting patterns differ distinctly than men’s voting patterns.

Reference: