New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) revealed data on voter participation on Thursday, three days after the fifth phase of polling. The data indicates that 62.20 per cent of voters cast ballots in 49 Lok Sabha constituencies across eight states and Union territories on May 20, the day of the election.
“In continuation of the EC’s two press notes dated May 20 (on voting percentage), the voter turnout of 62.20 per cent was recorded in phase five for 49 parliamentary constituencies (PCs) in the ongoing general elections,” the poll panel said in a statement, the New Indian Express reported.
Data from the fifth phase of voting shows that male turnout was 61.48 per cent, female turnout was 63%, and third gender turnout was 21.96 per cent. West Bengal had the greatest percentage of voters (78.45%), followed by Odisha (73.50%) and Ladakh (71.82%). Maharashtra, including all seats in Mumbai city, recorded 56.89 per cent of the vote, less than Uttar Pradesh's 58.02 per cent and Jammu and Kashmir's 59.10 per cent.
The EC contended that the final turnout would only become available after postal ballots were included in the total count, post-counting.
It also said, “… repolls at two polling stations in Kandhamal PC in Odisha will be concluded today and the figures may get further updated accordingly… which can be seen in the voter turnout app.”
EC said, “Copy of Form 17C is also provided for every polling station in a constituency to candidates through their polling agents. Actual data of Form 17C shall prevail, which is already shared with candidates.”
In response to a request on Wednesday for the EC to upload voter turnout data, polling station by polling station, on its website at the end of polling day, the EC informed the Supreme Court that it cannot upload Form 17C, the voting record at each polling station, because it is not required by law to provide it to anyone but candidates and their agents. In the fifth phase, there were 49 Lok Sabha seats. Of them, 14 were from Uttar Pradesh, 13 from Maharashtra, 7 from West Bengal, 5 from Bihar, 5 from Odisha, 3 from Jharkhand, and 1 from each of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
Polling took place in four phases: the first on April 19, the second on April 26, the third on May 7, and the fourth on May 13. According to EC figures, voter turnout was 66.14% in the first phase, 66.71% in the second, 65.68% in the third, and 69.16% in the fourth. Voting is expected to occur in two more phases: on May 25 for the sixth phase and on June 1 for the seventh. On June 4, the votes will be tallied.