India is preparing to hold national elections in April and May, in which close to 900 million Indians — greater than the combined populations of Europe and Australia — will cast their votes to select a new federal government. That’s also more ballots cast than the last seven U.S. presidential elections combined.
Citizens will elect lawmakers for the 543-member lower house of parliament, or Lok Sabha. Divided into 29 states and seven federally-administered territories, India’s poll will take place in seven phases between April 11 and May 19. Results will be announced on May 23, once all votes are cast, by the Election Commission, the non-partisan body in charge the elections, with a mandate of reaching all the eligible voters at the right location, and providing them with voter IDs.
The Commission will mobilize 11 million officials to conduct the election at 1.04 million polling stations which will use over 2 million electronic voting machines. According to India’s election guidelines, there must be a polling station no farther than 1.2 miles from any one voter across the country.
“Examination schedules and factors such as festivals and the harvest season were taken into consideration while fixing poll dates,” said Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora. The Election Commission allots symbols to the nearly 2,300 political parties that will contest this election to help voters easily identify candidates. To avoid double voting, an officer at a polling booth will apply indelible ink on the back of the second finger (the pointer) once a ballot is cast. The ink is placed carefully — half on the finger and half on the nail — making it nearly impossible for someone who has already voted to remove it and vote again.
Millions of poll workers, police, and security personnel are deployed in cities, towns, and rural areas. They use planes, boats, trains, helicopters, elephants, and camels and travel by foot to reach remote areas: from the Himalayan mountains in the north to tiny islands in the Arabian Sea to the south, the desert in the west and the deep forests in the east.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
