India Commission Says 642 Million Voted in Election

AFP/APP

New Delhi: A total of 642 million Indians voted in the just-concluded six-week-long polls, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar told reporters on Monday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi widely expected to win a third term.

“We have created a world record of 642 million Indian voters, it is a historic moment for all of us,” Kumar said, adding that nearly half of those — 312 million — were women voters.

“It shows the incredible power of voters of India,” he said.

“People should know about the strength of Indian democracy.”

Based on the commission’s figure of an electorate of 968 million, 66.3 percent of eligible voters turned out, slightly down on the last general election in 2019.

Kumar said that “642 million voters chose action over apathy, belief over cynicism and in some cases, the ballot over the bullet”, the commission said, with the commissioner adding that there were “no major incidents of violence”.

Voting in the seventh and final staggered round ended on Saturday, and counting and results are due on Tuesday.

Exit polls show Modi is well on track to triumph, with the premier saying he was confident that “the people of India have voted in record numbers” to re-elect his government.

India uses electronic voting machines that allow for faster counting of ballots.

“We have a robust counting process in place,” Kumar said.