900 Million Voters, Including 38,000 Transgenders & 1 Million Polling Stations: What Makes 2019 Elections Different

In May, 900 million Indians are going to decide the next prime minister of the country. India is the world¡¯s biggest democracy and upcoming Lok Sabha elections are set to be the biggest in the world, considering the mammoth population of the country.

The Lok Sabha 2019 Polls will be held in seven phases during April and May and the results will be announced on May 23.

The election is being pegged as the largest election exercise in history.

Here are some significant steps taken by the Election Commission which make these General Elections different:

10,35,918 polling stations

In 2014, nine lakh polling stations were set up. The number is higher by a lakh to 10 lakh in 2019. Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) will be used with all Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at all polling stations.

900 million voters

India, with its massive population of over 130 billion people, has the largest voter base in the world. 900 million people are set to vote in the upcoming elections. This means that 69.23 per cent of Indian citizens are eligible to vote. This is also an increase of 8.55 crores from the previous Lok Sabha elections in 2014 when there were 81.45 crore eligible voters.

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In 1950, when India held its first general elections, the country had merely 17.32 crore voters (excluding Jammu and Kashmir). According to the 1951 Census, the population of the country was 35.66 crore.

11 million officials to conduct polls

Holding elections in world¡¯s seventh largest nation by area and second most populous country is a colossal and complex task. Millions of poll workers are employed in hamlets, villages, towns and cities. These workers travel to far off areas only to ensure that polling goes in smoothly. They use planes, boats, trains, helicopters, elephants, and camels and travel by foot to reach far flung voters, from the snow-capped hamlets in Himalayas to remote islands in the Arabian sea and dense forests of Chhattisgarh.

This year, the EC will mobilise 11 million officials to conduct elections at 1.3 million polling booths which will use two million electronic voting machines.

More women voters

In 2014 elections, women outnumbered men at polling booths in half of India¡¯s states. The election created history with highest ever female voter turnout of 65.63 per cent.

Social media under Model Code of Conduct

This year onwards, social media usage comes under the purview of Model Code of Conduct. All political candidates will also be required to disclose their social media handles to the commission. The platforms have deployed fact checkers to scan fake news. The use of abusive language also comes under the scanner.

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A citizen-centric app

For the first time, the Election Commission has launched a citizen-centric mobile application for reporting of cases of Model Code of Conduct violation. District election authorities are directed to revert within 100 minutes of receiving complaints.

Another first for the elections is the photograph of candidates along with their respective party symbols on the electronic voting machines. This would help voters make a conscious decision for whom to vote.