General Elections 2019: India expects over 15 million first-time voters in the 18-19 year age group

• In the upcoming general elections, over 900 million people have registered, including 15 million new voters.
  
• In contrast, the voter turnout was recorded as 814.5 million in 2014 elections, with 23.1 million first-time voters.
  
• The number of young voters from India’s national capital is nearly 155,000, as on Sunday, compared to 337,000 in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

With the Election Commission of India rolling out the schedule for polling, India is gearing up for the largest elections in the world.

Nearly 900 million people have so far registered for the 17th Lok Sabha elections, out of which 15 million are first-time voters between the age of 18-19, according to media reports.

This includes the citizens who turned 18 on 1 January, and have been registered as electors. These first-time voters account for 1.66% of the total electorate, compared to the last Lok Sabha elections in 2014, where the voter turnout was recorded to be 814.5 million including 23.1 million new voters. The total voter turnout in the last general elections was 66.4%, the highest since 1952 elections.

However, voter participation from India’s national capital is significantly low in the same age group, as per the data by Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh. The number of voters in the given age group are nearly 155,000, as on Sunday, compared to 337,000 in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Encouraging active participation from first-time voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted calling electors, hoping for a record turnout. “I particularly call upon first-time voters to vote in record numbers," he tweeted.


The elections will take place in seven phases, starting 11 April and will be concluded on 23 May 2019, the Election Commission of India announced on Sunday.

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