Page 14 - Voting

Lok Sabha elections: EC, India Inc team up to encourage people to vote

Tamil Nadu is set to vote for all constituencies today

LS polls: Election officials climb hills, ford rivers to reach voters

The Election Commission has to set up more than 1 million polling stations for the nearly two-month duration, with 15 million officials and security personnel fanning out for the task

Over 7.5 mn voters to decide fate of 38 candidates in 4 seats of Bihar

The stage is set for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in Bihar where more than 75 lakh voters will decide the fate of 38 candidates standing in four constituencies. Tight security arrangements are in place at Nawada and Aurangabad, besides reserved seats of Gaya and Jamui, where a majority of nearly 5,000 polling booths have been marked as "sensitive", given these districts' long history of naxal violence. Of the four seats, Nawada has the highest number of 20.06 lakh voters, where altogether eight candidates are in the fray though the contest is primarily between Vivek Thakur, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP seeking entry into the Lok Sabha, and RJD's Shravan Kushwaha. The pitch has, however, been queered by Independent candidate Binod Yadav, who resigned from the RJD after Kushwaha was fielded from the seat. Yadav is the younger brother of Raj Vallabh Yadav, a former MLA whose wife Vibha Devi is a sitting MLA and who wields considerable influence and muscle power in the area. Gaya has th

BSP's electoral strategy: Going solo at 2024 LS polls to reclaim past glory

The party is trying to shun the image of a 'B-team of the BJP'

LS polls: Rajasthan wears Ram on sleeve, carries business in mind

Dust settles on campaign trail in 12 Rajasthan seats, voting on April 19

LS polls: Slowing exports, labour crunch pinch textile hub Tiruppur

When Business Standard reached Tiruppur, the city appeared to be least active compared to last year. A major reason is the decline seen in knitwear exports during the last financial year

Lok Sabha polls: Here's why voting lasts six weeks in general elections

India's eligible voters, at 968.6 million, number more than twice the European Union's population of 448 million. The figure has grown 8 per cent since the 2019 elections

Ahead of polls, Indo-Nepal border sealed, movement closed: U'khand CEO

This time, we have got around 60 companies of paramilitary forces for elections. And we believe that we will conduct peaceful elections

92% turnout in J-K's Udhampur on first day of home voting for elderly

The process of 'home voting' on Monday commenced in the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency for elderly citizens and persons with disabilities, with a remarkable 92 per cent turnout on the first day, officials said. Elderly and differently-abled persons exercised their franchise through postal ballots from their homes in different places of Kathua, Udhampur, Ramban, Doda, and Kishtwar districts, all part of the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency, which is scheduled for polling in the first phase on April 19. "Out of 621 eligible electors, 92 per cent cast their votes under these categories in the Udhampur Lok Sabha constituency," Rakesh Minhas , the Returning Officer for the Udhampur parliamentary constituency, told PTI on Monday evening. This initiative allows voters aged above 85 years and differently-abled persons meeting the 40 per cent disability criteria to avail of the optional home voting facility, the officials said. Electors under this category have begun exercising their voting

EC seizes record $557 million in illicit cash, goods before LS elections

The commission has vowed to crack down on black money used to bribe voters in the world's biggest election, which kicks off on Friday

BJP's historic pursuit: Targeting 370 seats in 2024 LS polls challenge

For the past three decades, political parties with regional footprints accounted for 200 or more seats, and nearly half the votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections

Story in Numbers: Voters' pie in population getting larger, shows data

Current estimates suggest that voters now make up almost 70 per cent of total population

Manipur LS polls: Over 24k displaced people to vote from relief camps

Eleven months of conflict, over 50,000 displaced people and an anti-poll sentiment among few---the Election Commission in violence-hit Manipur is gearing up for the challenging task of holding Lok Sabha elections in the state where the poll scene is muted. Chief Electoral Officer, Pradeep Kumar Jha said over 24,500 displaced people have been identified as eligible to vote in the upcoming elections and special arrangements have been made for them to cast their franchise from relief camps. "A total of 2,955 polling stations will be set up in the state for the Lok Sabha elections, out of which around 50 per cent have been identified as sensitive, vulnerable or critical. We are also setting up 94 special polling stations to facilitate voting by internally displaced persons (IDPs), Jha told PTI. As per Election Commission of India (ECI) norms, a vulnerability mapping of hamlets, villages and electoral segments vulnerable for threat and intimidation, is conducted ahead of polls. "Special

LS polls: Maoist-hit areas of Singhbhum to witness voting for first-time

Come May 13, many interior areas in the Maoist den of Singhbhum Lok Sabha seat in Jharkhand will witness voting for the first time, or after decades-long gap, as polling teams and materials will be air dropped from helicopters to enable people living in Saranda, Asia's densest Sal forest, to exercise their franchise. As many as 118 remote booths will be set up by personnel and materials dropped from choppers. "We are committed to ensuring that no voter is left out... we have identified many areas where polling will be conducted for the first time or after nearly two decades as these locations were badly affected by Maoist insurgency," West Singhbhum Deputy Commissioner cum District Election Officer Kuldeep Chaudhary told PTI. Despite improvement in the situation, West Singhbhum remains one of the worst left-wing extremism-affected districts of the country. It had witnessed 46 Maoist-related incidents resulting in 22 deaths last year. Polling stations such as Middle School, Nugdi an

EC identifies 266 parl seats with lower voter turnout; plans intervention

The Election Commission on Friday said it has identified 266 parliamentary constituencies, including 215 in rural areas, with low voter turnout and is planning targeted intervention to enhance voting percentage in Lok Sabha polls. Municipal commissioners from major cities and select district election officers (DEOs) from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh discussed enhancing voter engagement and participation in identified urban and rural Lok Sabha seats. At its conference on low voter turnout here, the EC said 266 parliamentary constituencies -- 215 rural and 51 urban -- with low voter turnout have been identified. Eleven states and union territories, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand, had a voter turnout lower than the national average of 67.40 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Addressing the participants, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar stressed that 'one size fits all' approac

EC issues guidelines for genuine electors to cast vote without voter I-card

Seeking to ensure that no genuine elector is deprived of the right to vote, the Election Commission has told state poll officers to ignore clerical or spelling errors provided the voter's identity can be established through the voter I-card. It has also said that a voter I-card issued by the electoral registration officer of another assembly constituency will be accepted for identification provided the elector's name is in the electoral rolls of the polling station where he or she has turned up. In case of a mismatch of photograph, the elector will have to produce one of the alternative photo documents listed out by the EC. In an order issued last month, the EC said the electors who are not able to produce their voter I-card will have to furnish one of the alternative photo identity documents for establishing their identity. These include the Aadhaar card, MNREGA job card, passbooks with photograph issued by a bank or post office, health insurance smart card issued by the Labour ..

NOTA vote share declines in 2019 LS polls to 1.06% from 1.08% in 2014

A statewise look at the data shows that in 2019, Bihar recorded the highest percentage of NOTA vote share of 2%

Bias at the ballot box: The ways voters are influenced in elections

Authority figures to availability choice: Our voting decisions are often coloured by biases that are often unconscious

LS polls: Over 58,000 voters opt for home voting option so far in Rajasthan

More than 58,000 voters in Rajasthan have so far opted for home voting in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, an official said on Wednesday. For the first phase of the general election, 35,542 people, including 26,371 senior citizens and 9,171 persons with disabilities, have registered for home voting, the state's Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said. Registration for home voting in the first phase of the polls will be completed Wednesday, he said. Returning officers will share the list of registered home voters with all recognised political parties and candidates by April 1. Booth-level officers are completing the registration process of eligible home voters in all 25 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state, Gupta said. After the names of the candidates for the constituencies are finalised, door-to-door voting will be conducted, he said. "So far, over 58,000 eligible voters have opted to vote from home. These include 43,638 senior citizens and 14,385 persons with disabilities," the

Postal ballot voting: Eligibility and process for Lok Sabha elections 2024

Everything you need to know about voting by mail ahead of the 2024 general elections and state Assembly polls