The CEO lauded voters for their overwhelming participation, calling the surge a powerful endorsement of democratic values.
“The highest-ever percentage of polling in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu since Independence—ECI salutes each voter,” he said.
West Bengal clocked an impressive 91.78% turnout, while Tamil Nadu followed closely with 84.69%.
In Tamil Nadu, voting remained brisk through the day, with turnout reaching around 84.60% by 6 pm – translating to roughly 4.84 crore voters out of an electorate of 5.73 crore across 234 constituencies.
District-wise trends showed significant variation, with Karur leading at 91.97%, followed by Salem at 90.23%.At the other end, Kanyakumari recorded the lowest turnout at 75.50%, with Ramanathapuram (76.28%), Sivaganga (76.18%), Tirunelveli (77.49%) and Thoothukudi (79.92%) also trailing the state average.
According to the Election Commission of India, polling gathered strong momentum in the morning hours and remained steady until early afternoon.
However, a dip was observed between 1 pm and 3 pm, largely attributed to intense summer heat. Voting activity picked up again after 3 pm as more people arrived at polling stations, pushing the turnout to around 84.35% by early evening.
Polling continued beyond official hours at several booths, as officials issued tokens to voters who had entered polling premises before the 6 pm deadline, ensuring that every eligible voter in queue could cast their ballot.
