Elections kick off in India, world's largest democracy

The greatest exercise of democracy in the history of mankind — by the numbers, at least — kicked off Friday as almost 1 billion people began casting votes for the next leader and government of India.

In 2023, India overtook China as the world’s most populous country, with 1.4 billion citizens. Up for grabs in its elections are 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, which translates to “House of the People,” the lower house of the Indian Parliament.

According to Indian broadcaster NDTV, eligible voters number 968.6 million. That’s more than twice the population of the entire European Union, which is 448 million. India’s population has expanded by 8% since the last general elections in 2019.

In a country where ethnic and religious tensions can turn deadly, some 300,000 security personnel, in addition to local police, are being deployed to safeguard electoral officials and voting machines in over 1 million voting stations, NDTV reported.