General Elections 2014: Highest Ever Voter Turn-Out

General Election 2014 has seen the highest ever voter-turnout in India with 66.4 % of the electorate casting vote. The previous highest was 64.01%, recorded in 1984. In the previous General Elections held in 2009, voter turnout was 58.21%. In absolute numbers, out of the total 834,101,479 electors, 553,801,801 people cast their vote in General Election 2014. Out of this, 65.3% were female voters and 67.09 % were male.

Table 1. Voting Percentage in General Elections 1951-52   ̶  2014

General Elections	Year	Male %	Female %	Total %
First	1951 - '52	NB: Gender-wise break-up of electors of General Elections conducted before 1971 is not available.		61.16
Second	1957			63.73
Third	1962		46.63	55.42
Fourth	1967	66.73	55.48	61.33
Fifth	1971	60.09	49.11	55.27
Sixth	1977	65.63	54.91	60.49
Seventh	1980	62.16	51.22	56.92
Eighth	1984 -'85	61.2	58.6	64.01
Ninth	1989	66.13	57.32	61.95
Tenth	1991 -'92	61.58	51.35	55.88
Eleventh	1996	62.06	53.41	57.94
Twelfth	1998	65.72	57.88	61.97
Thirteenth	1999	63.97	55.64	59.99
Fourteenth	2004	61.66	53.3	58.07
Fifteenth	2009	60.24	55.82	58.21
Sixteenth	2014	67.09	65.30	66.40
Source: Election Commission of India

Figure 1: Gender–wise Voter turn-out in General Elections 1951-52  ̶  2014

Figure 2: Difference (%) in Male & Female Voter Turnout GE 1951-52 - 2014

Top and Bottom Parliamentary Constituencies in Terms of Voter Turnout in General Elections 2014

The 16^th General Elections witnessed a record voter turnout of 66.4%. Dhubri of Assam is the parliamentary constituency that recorded the highest turnout at 88.22% followed by Nagaland at 87.82%; Srinagar of J&K recorded the lowest turnout at 25.90%, followed by Anantnag of the same state.

Table 1: Top 10 Parliamentary Constituencies in terms of Voter Turnout

Sl. No	Parliamentary Constituency	State/UT	Voter Turnout
1	Dhubri	Assam	88.22%
2	Nagaland	Nagaland	87.82%
3	Tamluk	West Bengal	87.59%
4	Bishnupur	West Bengal	86.72%
5	Lakshadweep	Lakshadweep	86.61%
6	Kanthi	West Bengal	86.61%
7	Bardhaman Purba	West Bengal	86.21%
8	Tripura West	Tripura	85.92%
9	Basirhat	West Bengal	85.45%
10	Birbhum	West Bengal	85.33%
Source: Election Commission of India

Table 2: Bottom 10 Parliamentary Constituencies in terms of Voter Turnout

Sl. No	Parliamentary Constituency	State/UT	Voter Turnout
1	Srinagar	Jammu & Kashmir	25.90%
2	Anantnag	Jammu & Kashmir	28.84%
3	Baramulla	Jammu & Kashmir	39.13%
4	Kalyan	Maharashtra	42.88%
5	Patna Sahib	Bihar	45.33%
6	Bhind	Madhya Pradesh	45.62%
7	Nalanda	Bihar	47.22%
8	Mumbai North Central	Maharashtra	48.61%
9	Arrah	Bihar	48.75%
10	Bansgaon	Uttar Pradesh	49.88%
Source: Election Commission of India

464 Political Parties Participated in General Elections 2014

The 16^th General Elections saw participation of 464 political parties. This comprises 6 national parties, 39 state parties and 419 unrecognized parties. In the 2009 General Elections, 363 parties participated, comprising 7 national parties, 34 state parties and 322 unrecognized parties.

The total number of registered parties was 1,687 before General Elections 2014; this comprised 6 national parties, 47 state parties and 1,634 unrecognized parties. The total number of registered parties was 1,060 in 2009. The increase in the total number of parties from 764 in 2004 to 1,687 in 2014 has been largely due to the rise in the number of unrecognized parties from 702 in 2004 to 1,634 in 2014.

Participation of Political Parties in General Elections

Year	Party Type	Registered	Participated
2004	National Parties	6	6
	State Parties	56	36
	Unrecognized Parties	702	173
	Total Registered Parties	764	215
2009	National Parties	7	7
	State Parties	39	34
	Unrecognized Parties	1014	322
	Total Registered Parties	1060	363
2014	National Parties	6	6
	State Parties	47	39
	Unrecognized Parties	1634	419
	Total Registered Parties	1687	464