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Journalism of Courage
The Phase 3 Lok Sabha voting percentage has edged closer to the 2019 figure for these corresponding seats, with Election Commission (EC) estimates at 10 pm Wednesday showing a 2024 turnout of 65.68% against 67.33% last time — a dip of 1.65 percentage points.
This comes after the first two phases of the elections saw turnout dipping by just under 4 percentage points and 3 percentage points, respectively, compared to 2019. In a statement Tuesday, the EC had said the turnout in Phase 3 was estimated to be 64.40% at 11.40 pm and that the final figures would be released by Saturday.
On Wednesday, the EC’s Voter Turnout app, which shows real-time estimates as updated by Returning Officers, showed that turnout had increased in five of the 11 states and Union Territories in Phase 3 — Assam, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Goa and Madhya Pradesh. The rest — Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu — recorded a decline as of 10 pm, compared to the 2019 turnouts in these seats. The Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu had the steepest decline at 5.74 percentage points, followed by Gujarat — which saw all 26 seats go to the polls in Phase 3 — at 4.37 percentage points as of 10 pm.
The first phase on April 19 saw 102 constituencies go to the polls, with a final turnout of 66.14%, a decrease of just under 4 percentage points from 70% in 2019. The second phase of 88 seats on April 26 had a dip of about 3 percentage points from 69.64% in 2019, excluding the five seats of Assam that have been redrawn due to delimitation last year, to 66.71%.
