How India conducted the world’s largest election

India’s mammoth general election drew to a close on June 1. About 642 million voters cast their ballots in the staggered seven-phase polling over six weeks, the largest election in history.

The world’s biggest election involved over one million polling stations spread across the country, from remote corners of the Himalayas to far-flung forests deep in Nagaland. Each polling station served a maximum of 1,500 people.

The process involved over 15 million people, four hundred thousand vehicles, nearly 1,700 air sorties and 135 trains moving across the country.

Each voting location used electronic voting machines (EVMs) which were first introduced in 1982. Instead of issuing a ballot paper, electors cast their votes by pressing a button next to a candidate’s name and party symbol. It has been deployed widely in the country from 2000.

Nearly 1.8 million Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) systems and 1.7 million control units were deployed for the 2024 elections across 1.05 million polling stations.

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The VVPAT system is attached to the EVM to confirm the vote. It prints a small slip of paper carrying the symbol and name of the candidate voted for. This is visible to the voter for a short period, and can be later used by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to verify the votes.

However, the EVMs have drawn criticism that they are vulnerable to tampering. Opposition parties say all paper slips should be counted separately to rule out hacking of the machines or any other manipulation.

The Commission says “there is no question of EVMs being programmed several times, or manipulated by connecting to a cell phone, Bluetooth devices, replacing part of it or through any other form of manipulation”.

Indian courts have largely endorsed EVMs.

After voting, people receive a mark of purple ink on their index finger as an indication that they have cast their ballot.

Polling stations

ECI guidelines say no voter should be more than 2 km away from a polling station. This means that in densely populated swathes of the country in states like Karnataka, the distribution of polling stations tends to follow a similar pattern to population density.

Clusters of stations in major cities and towns are evident, along with populated road networks. Rivers and sparsely populated, rugged terrain or jungle show as empty space.

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Home to 60 million people, Karnataka is one of the higher populated states in India. This year it needed a little over 46,000 polling stations, shown on the map below.

For such a mammoth exercise, nearly 11 million government officials and security forces were deployed, traveling by foot, road, special train, helicopter and boat.

Many locations are often in isolated areas with few facilities. More than 80,000 stations surveyed by the ECI lacked mobile connectivity, and nearly 20,000 were located in forest or semi-forest areas, according to data released in 2018.

In the forests

The small eastern state of Nagaland has about 74% of its geographical area under forest cover, one of the highest in India and emblematic of the country’s far eastern area which is mountainous and remote.

Its geography makes it home to some of the most inaccessible polling stations.

The state shares an international border of about 215 km with Myanmar, and the security agencies closed border gates during the elections. Over 2,100 booths are alloted to the state, although it only accounts for one seat during the general election.

Some of these booths sit right along the international border, but most polling booths are well spread across the state despite its hilly terrain. During the 2024 elections, little under 60% of registered voters made their way to these booths.

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In the far northeast of the country is Sikkim, a state that is the country’s least populated and second smallest by area. Sandwiched between Bhutan, Nepal and China, it’s also strategically located.

Near the Himalayas, Sikkim is extremely mountainous and inaccessible. During the election, its polling booths are almost exclusively situated in the southern part of the state.

In part because the mountains are among the highest in the world.

Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain, lies on its border with Nepal. It’s also heavily forested with nearly 50% of the state covered in thick forest.

With only 290 polling stations, it’s also a small electorate that the election commission is reaching out to.

Unlike Sikkim, Delhi, India’s nerve center and capital, holds elections across the city with nearly 2,700 booths in an area only a fifth of the size of the Himalayan state.

Booths in the city are concentrated closest to the city centre which is densely populated.

However, around government housing and infrastructure, there are fewer booths as most people are not permanent residents in the area.

Lugging machines

Election officials traveling to cut-off locations need to carry all of the necessary equipment and paperwork with them across rough terrain and any obstacles.

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Voting machines are packed in special carry cases after disconnecting power supply from connected batteries once voting is completed.

They are sealed with the official stamp of the ECI and candidates’ agents. Journeys carrying these machines can sometimes take days.

In a press release, the ECI noted that vehicles carrying EVMs and VVPAT shall be fitted with a GPS tracking device so that their movement is monitored.

In total, around 1.8 million of these machines were used in the election, deployed throughout the country in phases.

When packed away, the voting machine breaks up into a group of three carry cases.

These cases may differ depending on the model of machine but the largest of the three is around 37 cm tall.

When not in transit, they are placed next to each other in groups inside secure strong rooms, used by the election commission to prevent tampering.

High in the Himalayas

In the north of the country is Himachal Pradesh, a small state with a population of 70 million, predominantly a mountainous region in the Himalayas neighbouring Tibet.

With a backdrop of the snow-capped Himalayas stretched out across a vibrant blue sky, the village of Tashigang in the Spiti Valley was the highest polling station in the world when voting took place, according to the ECI. 62 voters were registered to vote at the station which sits 15,256 feet above sea level.

The election team used helicopters to reach the remote area.

These stations scattered across this region become tremendously important for the one day every five years when they are used by citizens in these distant places to have their say in their country’s election. Some are teeming with people and some have a slow drip feed of voters walking in.

In the state of Jharkhand which is a mineral rich state, polling booths are clustered around urban areas and close to water bodies.

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A biodiverse rich state, but not as forested as the north eastern states, it’s relatively more accessible for election workers who set up nearly 30,000 booths for general election.

With nearly 30 million people in the state, it has a sizable electorate.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has made elaborate arrangements to conduct a free and fair election and ensure that no voter is left behind.