CHENNAI: The three constituencies in Chennai continued their streak of low turnouts, as per the provisional figures released after the polling for the Lok Sabha election on Friday. Chennai North saw a turnout of 60.13% while Chennai South saw a 54.27% turnout and Chennai Central recorded 53.91%, the lowest in the state. The turnout in all three constituencies showed a decrease from the 2019 elections when Chennai North recorded 64.26%, Chennai South recorded 57.07% and Chennai Central 58.98%.
The state average this time was 69.46%. While initial data earlier in the day showed much higher turnouts in the city, officials had anticipated a drop in data during subsequent updates and verification.
According to officials, the final numbers would be made available on Saturday morning. During the day, there were differences in the turnout data issued by the CEO and the city corporation.
As of 3 pm, the CEO data put the turnout in Chennai North to be 44.84% while the corporation data recorded 39.67%. In Chennai Central, there was a 5.1% difference between the data from the CEO and the corporation (41.47% and 36.31% respectively).
As per the Assembly constituency-wise data released by the civic body at 3 pm, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar, Saidapet, Velachery, Villivakkam, Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni and Thousand Lights recorded the lowest turnouts, whereas Thiruvottiyur, Perambur, Mylapore and Sholinganallur fared better.
It can be noted that the figures have dropped despite ECI’s efforts to improve the turnout. The ECI had convened a conference on low voter turnout, with municipal commissioners and DEOs from select districts earlier this month to increase the voter turnout. From the year 1962, at least one of the three Chennai constituencies has featured in the lowest-polled segment list eight times. In 2004, Chennai North recorded a mere 45.8%.
