The voter turnout for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw a decrease of over 1.3 percentage points compared to the last decade, dropping from 67.3 percent in 2014 to 65.97 percent in 2024, according to data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Despite this decline in turnout percentage, the total number of votes cast increased by 5.3 percent, rising from 614 million in 2019 to 646.4 million this year, as reported by the Commission.
In total, approximately 646.4 million voters participated in the Lok Sabha elections, with female voters surpassing male voters in this democratic exercise. The ECI revealed that the female voter turnout in the 2024 elections was 65.78 percent, slightly higher than the male turnout, which stood at 65.55 percent. This marks only the second instance since the 2019 general election where women outvoted men. Dhubri in Assam recorded the highest female voter turnout at an impressive 92.17 percent, followed closely by Tamluk in West Bengal at 87.57 percent.
The number of registered women voters also saw a notable increase. There were 47.63 crore women among the total 97.97 crore registered voters in 2024, an increase from 43.85 crore in 2019. Puducherry had the highest proportion of female electors at 53.03 percent, followed by Kerala with 51.56 percent. Additionally, the female-to-male voter ratio reached a record high of 946 women per 1,000 men this year, up from 926 in 2019.
The figures indicate that not only were women eager to exercise their voting rights, but political parties also nominated more female candidates this time than in 2019. A total of 800 women contested in the 2024 elections, up from 726 in the previous election. Maharashtra led the states and union territories with the highest number of female candidates at 111, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 80 and Tamil Nadu with 77. However, 152 Lok Sabha constituencies did not have any female candidates contesting.
In 2023, the government amended the constitution to reserve 33 percent of seats in both the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, reflecting a significant step towards greater gender representation.
On Thursday, the ECI published the “world’s largest electoral dataset,” which includes 42 statistical reports related to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 14 reports for each of four state assembly elections. These 100 reports are expected to serve as invaluable resources for academics, researchers, and election observers around the globe for comprehensive analysis and policy insights.
The timing of this data release coincides with ongoing criticisms from opposition parties regarding voter turnout figures and the integrity of vote counting in the recent Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
