Voting has begun in India’s general elections with over 900 million to exercise their franchise over six weeks and in seven phases. There are 102 constituencies in the first phase with voting beginning at 8 in the morning. The last day for voting is June 1 and results should be out three days later.
- Voters are selecting representatives for 543 seats in India’s lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, with the president nominating two additional seats.
- The party that wins the majority will form the government and choose its prime minister from among its elected members.
- In larger states, voting is spread over in phases, while smaller ones complete it in one day.
- Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state with 80 Lok Sabha seats, votes in all seven phases and is crucial for any party’s success.
- India follows the first-past-the-post system, where voters cast a vote for a single candidate in a constituency and the candidate with the most votes wins the seat.
- The voting age is 18 years and contestants need to be at least 25 years old.
- According to the last census done in 2011, 18% of the electorate is urban which translates into 89 Lok Sabha seats.
- As has been the case in India since 1982 when electronic voting machines were first introduced, voters will press a button on a machine to cast their vote. There are no ballot papers.
The party widely expected to win is the ruling BJP, which has compIeted 10 years in office. Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the most popular figure nationwide, and is expected to sweep his constituency Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh state. Modi is hoping for an unprecedented third term and is making a major bid to win the vote in southern states like Tamil Nadu.
