People line up to cast their vote at a polling station. File | Photo credit: The Hindu
A total of 17.4 crore voters can participate in the upcoming assembly elections in four states – Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala and one union territory, Puducherry, to elect 824 MLAs, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said here on Sunday (Mar 15, 2026).
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Addressing a press conference, Mr. Kumar also said that voting will be held in 2.19 lakh polling booths across four states and Union Territories, while 25 lakh election officials will be tasked to ensure free and fair elections.
“A total of 17.4 crore voters are eligible to vote in the five assembly elections with 824 constituencies,” he said, accompanied by two election commissioners – Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
He said the total number of voters of the four states and union territories is equivalent to the population of Australia, France, South Africa, Germany and Canada.
Mr. Kumar said that clean electoral rolls form the basis of our democracy and therefore no eligible voter should be left out and no ineligible voter should be included in the electoral rolls.
He also congratulated the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for their good work during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Voters’ Rolls.
The CEC said representatives of election authorities from 20 countries will visit states where voting is restricted to gain experience from India’s “Festival of Democracy”.
Published – 15 March 2026 16:58 IST
