City’s three Parliamentary constituencies record overall polling percentage of 55.94
A total of 27.24 lakh of the 48.69 lakh registered voters in the city exercised their franchise on April 19. Among the 18 Assembly segments, Thousand Lights had the lowest turnout with 52.16%
The three Parliamentary constituencies in Chennai registered an overall turnout of 55.94% in the Lok Sabha Election 2024, according to data released by the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday.
A total of 27.24 lakh of the 48.69 lakh registered voters in the city exercised their franchise on April 19. Chennai Central Lok Sabha constituency recorded the lowest turnout of 53.96% in the State.
The constituency has an electorate of 13,50,161, of which 7,28,614 voted on Friday.
In terms of voter turnout in the three constituencies, the highest (60.11%) was recorded in Chennai North. A total of 8,99,367 votes were polled in Chennai North, whose total electorate is 14,96,224. Chennai South registered a turnout of 54.17%, with 10,96,026 casting their vote, out of the 20,23,133 registered voters.
Among the 18 Assembly segments, Thousand Lights reported the lowest turnout of 52.16%; of the 2,35,308 registered voters, 1,22,743 cast their vote.
Rich-poor divide
Ezhilan Naganathan, DMK MLA of Thousand Lights, said the rich-poor divide was high in his constituency and poor voters in 34 low-income settlements voted in large numbers while many voters in apartment complexes failed to vote. “One of the reasons is that the traditional voters of AIADMK did not show interest as it had given the seat to a coalition partner [DMDK],” he said.
R.K. Nagar in Chennai North registered the highest voter turnout of 66.81%, with 1,62,387 votes polled, out of the total 2,43,068 registered voters.
The number of men voters (13,74,083) is marginally higher than the number of women voters (13,49,545) in the three Parliamentary constituencies. Of the total 1,462 electors categorised as ‘Others’ on the rolls across the three constituencies, only 379 cast their vote, which amounts to 25.92%.
The city’s total voter turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha election was 60.16%. Of
The reasons will be analysed. Without the SVEEP campaign, the number of votes polled could have been lower J. RADHAKRISHNAN
District Election O¢cer and GCC Commissioner
that, Chennai North polled 64.10%, South polled 58%, and Central 58.72%, according to the data of the Greater Chennai Corporation. The percentage has dipped in all three constituencies this year.
At the EC’s ‘Conference on Low Voter Turnout’ in New Delhi on April 5, the o¢cials of the Chennai District Election O¢ce highlighted the proposals for
SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) activities and said that with these activities, the turnout would increase by 10% this election. An analysis of previous elections found £oating population, frequent transfers and travelling, cynicism, and urban apathy to be among the reasons for the low turnout in 2019.
District Election O¢cer and GCC Commissioner J. Radhakrishnan said: “The reasons will be analysed. Without the SVEEP campaign, the number of votes polled could have been lower. In the long run, o¢cials expect a possible increase in the level of awareness among citizens on the importance of voting.”