Poor electoral participation of overseas Indian voters in 2024 LS polls: EC data

New Delhi: Overseas Indians showed great enthusiasm in registering as electors, with nearly 1.2 lakh enrolling in the voter list, but a minuscule turned up to exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections this year.

According to the data released by the Election Commission, as many as 1,19,374 registered as overseas electors in 2024, with Kerala witnessing the highest registrations at 89,839. In 2019, as many as 99,844 had registered as overseas electors.

The poll authority said only 2,958 overseas electors flew down to India to participate in the largest democratic exercise in the world. Of these, an overwhelming 2,670 were from Kerala alone.

Several large states such as Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu saw zero turnout of overseas electors.

Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, saw only two out of 885 overseas electors casting their votes in the Lok Sabha elections.

The same was the story in Maharashtra, where only 17 of the 5,097 NRI electors voted.

Despite an increase of little over 19,500 registered overseas electors since the 2019 general election, their participation in the latest polls was poor.

While NRI voters is a generic term, the EC describes them as overseas electors -- Indians living abroad for a variety of reasons and eligible to vote in the Lok Sabha, assembly and other direct elections.

According to the existing electoral law, registered NRI voters have to come to their respective Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies to cast a vote. They have to show their original passport as proof of their identity.

Data show that while there were 7,927 registered NRI electors in Andhra Pradesh, only 195 flew down to vote.