In the Lok Sabha elections phase 2 on Friday, April 26, 2024, 60.96 percent of voters cast ballots, despite the extreme heat in several areas. With 77.18 and 78.53 percent of the vote, respectively, two northeastern states—the unstable Manipur and Tripura led the way in voter turnout. Uttar Pradesh had the lowest turnout, with 53.71 percent.
The Election Commission of India said polling remained largely peaceful. The tentative figure at 7 pm of voter turnout of 60.96 percent is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained, as voters reaching polling stations till the end of polling hour are allowed to cast their vote, it said.
Polling was conducted in 88 seats across 13 states/UTs with complaints of EVM glitches and bogus voting in some booths in Kerala and West Bengal. In the national capital, however, the Supreme Court dismissed pleas seeking ballot paper voting and rejected those asking for cross-verification of votes cast in electronic voting machines (EVM) with voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT). However, the court issued two directions for the Election Commission of India concerning the symbol loading unit and verification of the burnt memory semi-controller in 5 percent of the EVMs.