LS election: Overseas voter turnout drops to 2.5% from 25.6% in 2019; nil in TN, Karnataka

Of the 17 states and UTs where overseas electors are registered, those in seven states and two UTs exercised their franchise. Five states — Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka — comprise 90 per cent of the country’s total overseas electors. Of them, turnout was nil in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Highest enrolment of overseas electors in 2024 was recorded in five southern states – Kerala (89,839), Andhra Pradesh (7,927), Telangana (3,470), Tamil Nadu (3,432) and Karnataka (3,148).

Kerala’s turnout dropped from 29.13 per cent in 2019 to 2.97 per cent in 2024, diminishing the overall turnout of overseas voters this year. Andhra Pradesh’s turnout, on the other hand, improved from five of 5,090 registered voters casting their votes to 195 of 7,927 voting this time. Telangana’s turnout also rose marginally from nil in 2019 to three out of 3,470 electors casting their votes.

In seven states — Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, J&K — no new overseas voter registered for the 2024 polls. Same was the case for three UTs — Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, and Ladakh.

In the northeast, Meghalaya was an exception with five registered voters, but no one turned up on the day of voting.

In Maharashtra, which has the third-largest number of overseas electors of 5,097, only 17 of them cast their votes.

In Uttar Pradesh, where INDIA bloc secured more seats than NDA, none of 859 overseas electors turned up to vote, while six of 244 registered electors voted in 2019.

In Punjab, 13 out of 1,613 registered voters cast their votes, while 33 of 1,523 overseas electors voted in 2019.

Haryana’s turnout went up from nil in 2019 to 37 voters casting their votes. Though the number of registered voters went up in Rajasthan from 194 in 2019 to 289 this year, turnout was nil.

As per the Election Commission, an overseas voter must be a citizen of India and has not acquired citizenship of any other country and is otherwise eligible to be registered as a voter, who is absenting from his place of ordinary residence in India owing to his employment, education or otherwise is eligible to be registered as a voter in the constituency in which his place of residence in India as mentioned in his passport is located. As per the Representation of People Act, 1950, an NRI can be a voter in India’s electoral roll. An overseas (NRI) elector is allowed to vote in the constituency in person at the polling station upon production of original passport.