Indian voters wait to cast their ballots at a polling station in Azamgarh. PHOTO: AFP
The number of voters shattered the previous record of 417 million set in India five years ago, Election Commission director general Akshay Rout told reporters.
Around 814 million people had been eligible to vote in the world's biggest election which wrapped up on Monday five weeks after the first phase of polling on April 7.
"This is the highest ever turnout in India's national election history. These numbers may still go up marginally because of postal ballots and other factors," director general of the Election Commission, Akshay Rout, told reporters.
The turnout rate of 66.38% beat the previous record of 64.01% set in 1984 and was a major jump from the last general election in 2009 when 58.19%of the electorate cast a ballot.
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@raj, yeah so what ? how will it make any difference to us in PK ? Your guy has won, you can stop being a shill for him
Modi has been saying that for the first time after Rajiv Gandhi, Indian electorates will be giving such a thumping mandate to one party. With this record turnout, I think he is correct in his assessment. Usually, if the voter turnout is large, it signifies that the electorates are dissatisfied with the government in power and want a change.