Poor electoral participation of overseas Indian voters in Lok Sabha polls, 2024: EC data

Low turnout of overseas electors in Indian elections despite high registrations, with Kerala leading in participation.

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.

Lok Sabha results and voting trends

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.