India election results 2024: How will votes be counted?

Here’s how votes for India’s Lok Sabha polls will be counted using EVMs on June 4.

India’s multiphase voting concluded on Saturday after seven rounds of elections over 44 days. The giant electoral exercise – the largest in democratic history – saw 15 million polling staff travelling the length and breadth of the vast country to conduct the vote at about 1 million polling stations, many of which were located in remote villages, hills, deserts and conflict zones.

Voters have braved soaring temperatures to cast their ballots, with the seven phases – April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1 – recording turnouts of 66.1, 66.7, 61.0, 67.3, 60.5, 63.4 and 62 percent, respectively. An estimated 969 million people were registered to vote. Ballots were cast using electronic voting machines (EVMs).

At stake are 543 seats in the Lok Sabha – the lower house of India’s Parliament. Votes will be counted on Tuesday, June 4.

Here’s how vote counting for elections works:

Counting for all constituencies will begin at 8am (02:30 GMT) on Tuesday, June 4.

EVMs have been used in India’s elections since 2004 instead of paper ballots.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) developed these machines in collaboration with Bengaluru-based Bharat Electronics Ltd and Hyderabad-based Electronic Corporation of India Ltd, both government-owned companies. EVMs are battery-powered, so electricity is not needed for their functioning. They are not connected to the internet.

An EVM comprises two parts, which are connected through a cable:

The ECI appoints a returning officer (RO) for each parliamentary constituency, making them responsible for vote counting.

An RO is supported by assistant returning officers (AROs), who are responsible