The presidential election on Monday recorded probably the highest ever turnout of over 99%, with all eligible voters casting their ballots in at least 10 States and one Union Territory.
The election was conducted at 32 polling stations, including in Parliament and the State Assemblies. Presidential Election Returning Officer and Lok Sabha Secretary General Anoop Mishra said reports on voting percentages from Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur and Tripura were yet to be added.
Three Members of Parliament — Tapas Paul, Anbumani Ramadoss and Rama Chandra Hansdah — did not vote. DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and Sikkim MLA Sher Bahadur Subedi could not vote for health reasons.
Chhedi Paswan, BJP MP from Sasaram in Bihar, could not vote as his election was quashed by the Patna High Court last year. Even though the order has been stayed by the Supreme Court, he does not have voting rights.
As two seats are vacant both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and one MP did not have the right to vote, a total of 771 MPs were eligible for participating in the election process. In all, 714 of them cast their votes in Parliament, while 42 MPs voted in the West Bengal Assembly.
When asked, Mr. Mishra confirmed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first MP to reach the polling station and cast his vote in Parliament.
Ballot boxes reach Delhi
While ballot boxes from nine State Assemblies reached the national capital by Monday evening, the rest were expected to be transported by air on Tuesday.
The counting of votes is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. on July 20.
In terms of the value of the votes, the Sikkim Assembly has the lowest of seven and Uttar Pradesh the highest of 208. The total value of the votes of the Electoral College, which comprises 776 MPs and 4,120 MLAs, is 10,98,903.
