Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar revealed on March 16 that a staggering 96.8 crore voters will be eligible to exercise their franchise in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Speaking at a press conference held to announce the polling dates for the Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls in four states, Rajiv Kumar highlighted the massive scale of the electoral process in the world’s largest democracy.
According to the CEC, the electoral landscape for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will witness the deployment of 10.5 lakh polling stations across the country. To ensure the smooth conduct of the elections, approximately 1.5 crore polling officials and security personnel will be mobilised.
“We are committed to give the nation a truly festive, democratic environment. The term of the 17th Lok Sabha is due to expire on June 16, 2024. The terms of the Legislative Assemblies of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are also due to expire in June 2024. Elections are due in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Kumar said approximately 49.7 crore voters are male and 47.1 crore voters are female.
“We have 1.8 crore first-time voters and 19.47 crore voters between the age group of 20-29 years,” he said, adding that 88.4 lakh voters are of PwD category, 2.18 lakhs are centenarians and 48,000 are transgenders.
The CEC was accompanied by the two Election Commissioners.
