Voters at a polling station in Chennai. Photo by L R Shankar
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has seen brisk polling since 7am, with turnout touching 70% by 3 pm. This represents 4.01 crore voters out of a total electorate of 5.73 crore in 234 constituencies.According to Election Commission of India (ECI) data, the turnout between 7am and 9am stood at 17.69%. In the following two hours (9 am to 11 am), an additional 19.87% was recorded, bringing the total to 37.86%. The surge continued with 19.25% polling between 11am and 1pm, and 13.19% from 1pm to 3pm, culminating in the 70% figure.
Districts including Virudhunagar, Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Tirupur, Tirupathur, Kancheepuram, Kallakurichi, Erode, Dindigul, Dharmapuri and Coimbatore recorded a turnout between 70% and 75%. Kangayam constituency in Tirupur district saw over 78% of the electorate casting their votes, while the Bhavani constituency in Erode recorded 77.64%.The election is happening in the state after a special intensive revision (SIR) carried out after a gap of 20 years. This exercise reduced the registered electorate from 6.2 crore to 5.73 crore, removing approximately 74 lakh ineligible entries.Citing the current polling trend and the successful removal of “bogus” voters, ECI officials stated they expect turnout to reach “around 85%” by the end of the day. In contrast, the 2021 assembly polls – held during the second wave of Covid-19 -recorded a turnout of 73.63% (4.63 crore voters out of 6.29 crore registered).The current election also evokes the high participation levels seen in the 2006 elections, which were held following a similar SIR of the rolls in 2005. At that time, the state recorded a 70.56% turnout from an electorate of 4.66 crore -an 11% increase compared to the 2001 elections, representing a surge of approximately 48 lakh votes.
