General Elections to Legislative Assemblies and bye-elections 2026

Tamil Nadu (84.69%) and West Bengal (Phase-I) (91.78%) record highest-ever poll participation since Independence Posted On: 23 APR 2026 8:38PM by PIB Delhi 1. Polling for the General Elections for the Legislative Assemblies of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal (Phase-I) and the bye-elections in 3 ACs of 2 States (Gujarat and Maharashtra) began today at 7:00 AM. 2. Tamil Nadu with 84.69% and West Bengal (Phase-I) with 91.78% recorded the highest- ever poll-participation since Independence. Previously, the highest poll-participation in Tamil Nadu was 78.29% (2011 GELA) and in West Bengal was 84.72% (2011 GELA) respectively. Details of previous poll participation figures are annexed . 3. Details of poll participation (%) are as follows: State/UT Poll Percentage (%) Male Female 3 rd Gender Total General Elections to Legislative Assembly Tamil Nadu 83.57 85.76 60.49 84.69 West Bengal (Ph-I) 90.92 92.69 56.79 91.78 Bye-elections to AC Gujarat 1. Umreth-111 61.52 56.34 50.00 59.03 Maharashtra 1. Baramati-201 61.61 53.29 4.48 57.48 2. Rahuri-223 58.59 51.80 0.00 55.31 *As per data uploaded by the PROs themselves in ECINET . Data from 6,345 PS in WB and 6,411 PS in TN yet to be updated +Data is provisional and it does not include Service Voters & Postal Ballots. Final figures will be shared in Index Cards through ECINET 4. Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Dr. S.S. Sandhu and Dr. Vivek Joshi kept a close watch on the polling through live webcasting which was ensured in 100% of the Polling Stations in both the states. 5. Details of electorate, polling stations, polling staff, candidates and polling agents in the two states are as under: State ACs Electorate No. of PS Polling Staff Candid ates Polling Agents Male (in Crores) Female (in Crores) 3 rd Gender Total (in Crores) Tamil Nadu 234 2.80 2.93 7,728 5.73 75,064 3,75,320 4,023 4,21,328 West Bengal (Ph-I) 152 1.84 1.76 465 3.60 44,376 2,21,880 1,478 1,54,222 TOTAL 386 4.64 4.69 8,193 9.33 1,19,440 5,97,200 5,501 5,75,550 6. Presiding Officers updated the polling percentage on ECINET at the close of poll before leaving the polling station as per ECI’s latest instructions resulting in minimal delay in updation of the polling trends. 7. Several new voter-friendly initiatives such as easily identifiable colour photos of candidates on EVM ballot papers, Mobile Deposit Facility (MDF), newly designed Voter Information Slips (VIS) for easy readability and limit of electors upto 1,200 per polling station were ensured in these elections. 8. Polling stations were also provided with wheelchairs and volunteers to assist PwD voters . Transport facility was also provided to assist PwD voters in reaching their respective polling stations. 9. District-wise and AC wise approximate voter turnout figures are available on the ECINET App . ********** PK/GDH/RP Annexure -1 Tamil Nadu: Gender-wise Poll Participation in Elections [1951 &ndash; 2026] Sl. No. State Type Year of Election Male VTR % Female VTR % Total VTR % [Excl. Postal votes] 1 Madras LA 1951 54.75 2 Madras LS 1951 56.33 3 Madras LA 1957 46.56 4 Madras LS 1957 47.75 5 Madras LA 1962 74.92 66.45 70.65 6 Madras LS 1962 73.07 64.55 68.77 7 Madras LA 1967 79.19 73.99 76.57 8 Madras LS 1967 79.23 73.94 76.56 9 Tamil Nadu LA 1971 74.55 69.66 72.10 10 Tamil Nadu LS 1971 74.48 69.17 71.82 11 Tamil Nadu LA 1977 64.02 59.08 61.58 12 Tamil Nadu LS 1977 68.81 65.43 67.13 13 Tamil Nadu LA 1980 69.14 61.61 65.42 14 Tamil Nadu LS 1980 70.15 63.34 66.76 15 Tamil Nadu LA 1984 74.42 72.49 73.47 16 Tamil Nadu LS 1984 74.00 71.94 72.98 17 Tamil Nadu LA 1989 70.33 69.02 69.69 18 Tamil Nadu LS 1989 68.67 65.01 66.86 19 Tamil Nadu LA 1991 65.94 61.69 <p style="margin-left:40px; margin-right:4