Urban voter apathy? Chennai sees dismal turnout of 59.01%

The overall turnout in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha Elections was 70.90%.
Urban voter apathy? Chennai sees dismal turnout of 59.01%
Urban voter apathy? Chennai sees dismal turnout of 59.01%
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Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Chennai, the picture is largely the same when it comes to voter apathy on polling day. Chennai’s voter turnout has seen a steady decline over the past three elections. As of 9pm on Thursday, the voter turnout in Chennai’s three Lok Sabha constituencies was among the poorest in the state. At 57.43%, Chennai South recorded the lowest poll percentage in Tamil Nadu as at 9pm on Thursday. While Chennai Central came a close second with 57.86% turnout,  Chennai North recorded 61.76% turnout. Overall, Chennai city recorded 59.01% voters turnout as at 9pm on Thursday. 

The city, which has pulled down the state’s overall figures, has shown a steady decline since 2009. In the Lok Sabha Election in that year, Chennai Central once again recorded the lowest poll percentage in the state at 61.04%, while Chennai South and Chennai North were not far behind at 62.66% and 64.91% respectively. 

The situation was similar in cities like Madurai and Coimbatore as well, with the poll percentage witnessing a steady decline.  While in 2009, Madurai polled an impressive 77.48%, in the subsequent 2014 Lok Sabha Election, it saw a significant slide with the southern city recording 67.88%. This year, as of 9pm, Madurai saw a voter turnout of 62.01% inspite of the voting being extended till 8pm due to the Chithirai festival. 

Coimbatore’s poll percentage was 63.67% at 9pm on Thursday, while in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, the city in western Tamil Nadu recorded a turnout of 68.17%. This was a dip from 2009 when the poll percentage was 70.84%. 

As far as Trichy is concerned, voter turnout on Thursday was 71.89% a slight increase from its 2014 figure of 71.11%. In 2009 the city polled 67.35%.

 The overall voter turnout in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha Elections on Thursday was 70.90%. Namakkal recorded the highest polling as of 9pm, with 79.75% voter turnout. In 2014, the state recorded a poll percentage of 72.98%, while in 2009 it was 73.03%.

Meanwhile, the bye-polls to 18 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu recorded an overall voter turnout of 71.62%. Harur assembly constituency in Dharmapuri district recorded a turnout of 86.96% in the bye-elections while Sattur constituency in Virudhunagar district witnessed the lowest voter turnout of 60.87%.

Overall, the polling day in Tamil nadu was also dotted with complaints of faulty EVMs, delayed start to the polls, names of voters missing from the list and the voters getting turned away at the polling booths for not having booth slips.

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