EC identifies 266 parliamentary seats with lower voter turnout; plans targeted intervention

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Friday said it has identified 266 parliamentary constituencies, including 215 in rural areas, with low voter turnout and is planning targeted intervention to enhance voting percentage in Lok Sabha polls.

Municipal commissioners from major cities and select district election officers (DEOs) from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh discussed enhancing voter engagement and participation in identified urban and rural Lok Sabha seats.

At its conference on low voter turnout here, the EC said 266 parliamentary constituencies  215 rural and 51 urban with low voter turnout have been identified.

Eleven states and union territories, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand, had a voter turnout lower than the national average of 67.40 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing the participants, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar stressed that ‘one size fits all’ approach will not work and different strategies have to be worked out for different areas and segments.

Polling for seven-phased Lok Sabha polls begins on April 19.