Indian authorities say about 969 million people have registered to vote in the 44-day general election, creating a massive electorate of about 12 per cent of the global population for the biggest election in history.
An official holds a mock ballot paper as he prepares bags of election material to be distributed along with the Electronic Voting Machines ahead of the national parliamentary elections in Jorhat, India, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Anupam Nath
"It's simply the largest kind of exercise in voting that humanity has ever seen," said Vina Nadjibulla, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada vice-president of research. "It's a type of election that the world really hasn't seen before." In comparison, the Philippines — another democratic country with a large overseas diaspora — reported more than 432,000 overseas votes in its 2016 presidential election, with close to 1.4 million registered as eligible. Registered Filipinos overseas can vote by mail or at consulates and embassies around the world.
"They requested us to forward the same to the High Commissioner," Khan said about the desire for many Indian citizens wishing to vote without travelling to India. "We suggested they should be voting in the Indian election … People very much want to get involved, but they couldn't." Researcher Tremblay said overseas interest in India's election may never have been higher, around the world with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration coinciding with India's rising international profile and strengthening economic clout.
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