Lok Sabha Elections: Phase VII [Voter Turnout Review]

The final Stage before the 2024 General Election results

The final stage of General Elections 2024 concluded on June 1, 2024. In the seventh phase, 52 constituencies from 8 states and Union Territories (UTs) went for polling. Around 10.9 lakh Polling officials were on duty for the final phase across almost 1.09 lakh polling stations.

Voter Turnout Statistics

Following are the voter turnout statistics ECI shares on its Voter Turnout app.

Sr. No.	State	No. of PCs	Turnout %
Sr. No.	State	No. of PCs	2024	2019*
1	Bihar	8	53.29%	58.1%
2	Chandigarh	1	67.98%	74.2%
3	Himachal Pradesh	4	70.90%	80.1%
4	Jharkhand	3	70.88%	69.1%
5	Odisha	6	74.41%	76.1%
6	Punjab	13	62.80%	67.6%
7	Uttar Pradesh	13	55.85%	60.5%
8	West Bengal	9	76.80%	78.6%
	Overall	58	63.88%

*Overall turnout for all phases in 2019

Region-wise Analysis:

North:

13 seats in Uttar Pradesh and 8 in Bihar witnessed polling in this phase. Uttar Pradesh recorded a lower voter turnout than the 2019 percentage. Despite campaigning by ECI to boost turnout, it remained lower than before. In seats like Varanasi, where the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi is contesting, voter turnout was at 59.7 percent, but in 2024 it only went up to 56.49 percent, a gap of 3 percent. This was the theme in most of the states for voter turnout.

Through all 8 constituencies, Bihar witnessed voting, overall state voter turnout was 58.1 percent. The highest percentage of voter turnout was recorded in Pataliputra at 59.6 percent, which is higher than in the 2019 elections, where it was at 56.7 percent.

Himachal Pradesh contributes four constituencies to the Lok Sabha. All constituencies recorded significantly lower voter turnout. The total turnout in the state is recorded at 70.90 percent, up from 80.1 percent in 2019. The well-discussed seat of Mandi for its star candidates, saw a voter turnout of only 73.15 percent. In 2019, the same seat had a turnout of 82.3 percent.

Punjab has 13 constituencies. All constituencies witnessed a significant drop in voting. This can be critical, especially in seats like Bathinda and Jalandhar, where the winning margin was as close as 1.8 and 1.9 percent, respectively. In Jalandhar, the voting percentage was 59.7 against 65.50 in 2019, and in Bathinda, it was 69.56 percent against 76.40 percent in 2019.

Chandigarh too had a drop in voting. In 2019, the voting had touched a mark of 74.9 percent. However, 2024 saw it fall to 67.98 percent.

East:

Nine constituencies in West Bengal were included in phase seven. The state turnout in this phase was 76.80 percent, less than previous overall voting percentages in all phases. The trend of urban apathy continued among the voters of Kolkata city. Despite being better than the last edition, voter turnout was much lower than in nonurban areas. Voter turnout in the two constituencies of Kolkata Uttar and Kolkata Dakshin was 63.59 percent and 66.95 percent, respectively, against 59.1 percent and 64.1 percent in 2019.

Jharkhand underwent polling in three of its constituencies. Overall voting percentage of voter turnout was 70.88 percent.

Six constituencies in Odisha had an overall voter turnout of 74.41 percent.

Conclusion

Apathy among the urban electorate continued in Kolkata. The final phase was expected to draw more voters out since there was a gradual rise as the election went along.

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By 5 pm on Saturday, June 1, 2024, the voting for the 2024 general election was concluded. Following are the final voter turnout numbers by states and UTs.

Sr. No.	State	No. of PCs	Turnout %
Sr. No.	State	No. of PCs	2024	2019
1	Andaman and Nicobar	1	64.10	65.08
2	Andhra Pradesh	25	81.86	79.7
3	Arunachal Pradesh	2	77.68	78.47
4	Assam	14	81.62	81.52
5	Bihar	40	56.49	57.33
6	Chandigarh	1	67.98	74.2
7	Chhattisgarh	11	72.17	71.48
8	Dadra and Nagar Haveli	1	72.52	100
9	Daman and Diu	1	68.77	79.6
10	NCT of Delhi	7	58.69	60.51
11	Goa	2	76.06	74.94
12	Gujrat	26	60.13	64.11
13	Haryana	10	64.80	70.22
14	Himachal Pradesh	4	70.90%	70.22
15	Jammu and Kashmir	5	58.58	44.97
16	Jharkhand	14	66.61	66.80
17	Karnataka	28	70.64	68.63
18	Kerala	20	71.27	77.67
19	Ladakh	1	71.82	–
20	Lakshadweep	1	84.16	84.96
21	Madhya Pradesh	29	66.87	71.10
22	Maharashtra	48	61.29	60.79
23	Meghalaya	2	76.60	71.43
24	Manipur	2	80.47	82.75
25	Mizoram	1	56.87	63.12
26	Nagaland	1	57.72	83.09
27	Odisha	21	74.51%	76.1%
28	Puducherry	1	78.90	81.21
29	Punjab	13	62.80%	65.96
30	Rajasthan	25	61.34	66.34
31	Sikkim	1	79.88	78.81
32	Tamil Nadu	39	69.72	72.02
33	Telangana	17	65.67	62.71
34	Tripura	2	80.92	83.20
35	Uttar Pradesh	80	57.05	59.21
36	Uttarakhand	5	57.22	61.48
37	West Bengal	42	79.19	81.76
	Overall	543	66.33	67.11