Election 2019: A Complete Documentation & Analysis of Indian Parliamentary Election Since 1952 (In 3vols)

IndiaS 17Th Loksabha Election Was The Largest Electoral Exercise In The World. Spread Over Seven Phases Over 39 Days, As Many As 900 Million People Cast Ballots Nationwide At A Million Polling Stations, Spread Across Densely Populated Megacities And FarFlung Villages. Each Phase Lasted A Single Day, With The Date Varying By Location. It Was A Feat Of Gargantuan Proportions, Requiring 12 Million Polling Officials And CuttingEdge Technology. But Just Getting To The Voters. Some Of Whom Live Among The WorldS Tallest Mountains, Its Densest Jungles And Sweltering Deserts Presents Its Own Set Of Challenges. Among Those Remote Locales Is The CountryS Highest Polling Place 15,256 Feet Above Sea Lev Found In A Village In The Spiti Valley Of The Himalayas, Where Just 48 Voters Live. The Election Commission Had To Negotiate A Long List Of Potential Obstacles When Scheduling The Poll: It Took School Exams, Holidays, Festivals, The Harvest And Even The Monsoon Into Account. The Organisational Challenge Of The Polling Was Huge. Election Officials Not Only Accounted For The Most Isolated Voters, But Also Provided Efficient Systems For Those In The CountryS Teeming Cities. Democracy DoesnT Get Much Simpler Than One Person, One Vote. But What Happens When That One Person Is A Hermit Living Alone In A Jungle Temple Surrounded By Lions, Leopards And Cobras, Miles From The Nearest Town? The Election Comes To Him. In Addition To The Poll Workers, Tens Of Thousands Of Troops Were Deployed Throughout The Election To Prevent Party Activists From Interfering In The Process And Subdue Potential Outbreaks Of Violence. While Voters In The United States And Elsewhere Continue To Argue The Merits And Security Of Electronic Voting, India Has Been Using Secure Electronic Machines Since 1999. Beginning In 2014, The Government Introduced A Second Machine, A Printer That Deposits A Hard Copy Of Each Ballot Into A Sealed Box, Ensuring An Additional Layer Of Redundancy And Security. More Than 8,000 Candidates Representing More Than 2,000 Political Parties Vied For 543 Available Seats.