Why do India’s general elections take so long to complete?

From April 19 to June 1, nearly 970 million Indians – or over 10 per cent of the global population – are eligible to vote in general elections. The mammoth exercise is the biggest anywhere in the world and will take 44 days before results are announced on June 4.

Most surveys predict Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party will win comfortably, cementing him as one of the country’s most popular and consequential leaders.

Over the years, the duration of voting has wavered. It took nearly four months to complete the vote in India’s first elections in 1951-1952, after it gained independence from British rule, and just four days in 1980. In 2019, voting took 39 days, and this year’s election is the second longest.

The vote to choose 543 lawmakers to the lower house of parliament takes place over seven phases. India’s 28 states and eight federal territories will vote at different times. Each phase is one day, with the first kicking off April 19 and ending on June 1.

The Election Commission of India, which oversees the vote, has to make sure there is a voting booth available within 2km (1.2 miles) of every voter.

“Election officials have to travel to great lengths to ensure that even a single voter can exercise their franchise,” said Chakshu Roy of PRS Legislative Research, an independent think tank.

Some 15 million election officials and security staff will traverse the country’s deserts and mountains – sometimes by boat, foot and even on horseback – to try to reach every voter.

Officials also travelled to a village tucked away high up in the Himalayas in 2019 to install a booth at 15,256 feet (4,650 meters), the highest polling station anywhere in the world.

This time too, polling stations will be installed in remote places,