The voter turnout in the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections across 49 constituencies on Monday surpassed the polling figures from the same seats in 2019. Provisional data at 10:30 pm on Tuesday indicated a turnout of 62.15%. While the Election Commission is expected to release the final turnout figures by Friday, the EC’s Voter Turnout app, which provides real-time updates as reports from all polling stations are verified, showed Monday’s turnout at 62.15%, higher than the final 2019 figure of 61.82%.
Following Monday’s voting, the EC issued a statement indicating an approximate turnout of 60.09%, with expectations that this number would increase.
Jammu and Kashmir sees increased voter participation
In Jammu and Kashmir, the trend of increased voter participation continued with Baramulla recording a 24 percentage point rise from 34.3% in 2019 to 59.1% as of Tuesday. However, due to the 2022 delimitation, which altered constituency boundaries, seat-wise comparisons are challenging.
Varied trends across states and UTs
Among the eight states and Union Territories that went to polls in phase five, Jammu and Kashmir (59.1%), Ladakh (69.62%), Maharashtra (56.89%), and Odisha (73.11%) experienced higher turnouts compared to 2019. Conversely, West Bengal (78.45%), Bihar (56.76%), Jharkhand (63.02%), and Uttar Pradesh (58.02%) saw lower turnouts as of 11 pm, though the margins in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were narrow and might close when the final figures are available.