India's election 2024: A logistical triumph across a vast polling network

How India conducted the world's largest election Poll workers reach India’s most remote corners to set up polling stations India’s mammoth general election drew to a close on June 1. About 642 million voters cast their ballots in the staggered seven-phase polling over six weeks, the largest election in history. The world’s biggest election involved over one million polling stations spread across the country, from remote corners of the Himalayas to far-flung forests deep in Nagaland. Each polling station served a maximum of 1,500 people. The process involved over 15 million people, four hundred thousand vehicles, nearly 1,700 air sorties and 135 trains moving across the country. Each voting location used electronic voting machines (EVMs) which were first introduced in 1982. Instead of issuing a ballot paper, electors cast their votes by pressing a button next to a candidate’s name and party symbol. It has been deployed widely in the country from 2000. Nearly 1.8 million Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) systems and 1.7 million control units were deployed for the 2024 elections across 1.05 million polling stations. The VVPAT system is attached to the EVM to confirm the vote. It prints a small slip of paper carrying the symbol