New Delhi: Around 17.4 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, and the Union Territory of Puducherry to elect 824 MLAs, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Kumar said polling will be conducted at 2.19 lakh polling stations, with nearly 25 lakh election officials deployed to ensure a free and fair electoral process.

“A total of 17.4 crore voters will participate in elections to five assemblies with 824 constituencies,” he said. The press conference was also attended by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

Kumar noted that the combined electorate of the four states and the Union Territory is comparable to the population of countries such as Australia, France, South Africa, Germany, and Canada.

Emphasising the importance of accurate voter lists, he said clean electoral rolls are the foundation of democracy, adding that no eligible voter should be excluded and no ineligible person should be included. He also congratulated booth-level officers (BLOs) for their work during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The Chief Election Commissioner said representatives from the election management bodies of 20 countries will visit the poll-bound states to observe India’s electoral process, often described as the “Festival of Democracy.”
Across the country, there are 1,571 voters aged over 100, he added.

Kumar also assured that the Election Commission will ensure greater transparency in vote counting and the declaration of results, while urging enforcement agencies to guarantee impartial and violence-free elections.

In Kerala, there will be 30,471 polling stations across the state.