A total of 4.97 crore voters, including 12.20 lakh first-time electors, will be able to exercise their franchise in Lok Sabha elections and bypolls to five assembly seats in Gujarat on May 7, Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi said on Tuesday.
As per the final electoral roll, a total of 4,97,68,677 voters are expected to cast their votes in these elections. Among them, there are 12,20,438 voters in the age group of 18-19 years who will be exercising their right to vote for the first time, Bharathi told media persons.
“EPIC (voter) cards have been distributed to all the citizens who applied for it by March 15, 2024, and the print of e-EPIC will also be accepted as a proof of identity in case EPIC is not available,” she said.
As per the January 5, 2024 electoral roll, a total of 4,94,49,469 voters were registered in Gujarat. Subsequently, 3,19,209 voters are in the supplementary electoral roll based on the applications received for voter registration until April 9, the CEO said. Out of 4,97,68,677 voters in the final list, 2,56,16,540 are men, 2,41,50,603 women, and 1,534 are third-gender voters, she said. “The upcoming elections in the state are expected to witness significant participation from young voters, with a total of 1,16,06,188 voters between the age group of 18 to 29 set to exercise their franchise,” Bharathi said.
Additionally, the state has a considerable number of senior citizen voters, with 4,19,584 individuals aged 85 years and above.
The number of centenarian voters aged 100 years or above is 10,036 who are eligible to participate in the electoral process.
Director General of Police (Law & Order) Shamsher Singh said 133 checkposts have been set up to seal borders with the neighbouring states where body-worn cameras and CCTVs are installed. “Seizures of articles of Rs 42 crore have been made so far, including liquor valued at Rs 14 crore,” he said, adding that police have taken preventive action against 3 lakh people.
In terms of constituency-wise demographics, Navsari holds the distinction of being the largest Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat with 22,23,550 registered voters. At 17,23,353, Bharuch seat has the lowest number of registered voters, Bharathi added.