The percentage of eligible voters who actually cast their votes in an election is called the:

Voter turnout is the percentage of registered (eligible) voters who actually cast their votes in an election.

How turnout is calculated:

• Turnout = (number of votes cast / number of registered voters) x 100.
• For example, if a constituency has 10 lakh voters and 6.5 lakh people vote, the turnout is 65 percent.

Turnout in Lok Sabha elections:

• The first general election (1951 to 1952) had a turnout of about 45 percent.
• The 2019 Lok Sabha election recorded about 67.4 percent, the highest ever for a general election.
• The 2024 Lok Sabha election recorded about 66 percent.
• Turnout of women voters has risen sharply, and in recent elections it has been close to or higher than that of men.

Factors affecting turnout:

• Voter awareness and interest in the election.
• Weather, distance to polling stations and the date of polling.
• Migration of voters for work, since many migrants cannot return home to vote.
• Urban apathy: turnout is often lower in big cities than in rural areas.

Steps to improve turnout:

• The Election Commission runs the SVEEP programme (Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation).
• National Voters' Day is observed on 25 January.
• Facilities such as postal ballots for certain categories, voting from home for senior citizens above 85 and persons with disabilities, and model polling stations.

Compulsory voting:

• Some countries, such as Australia and Belgium, have compulsory voting.
• In India, voting is a right, not a legal duty.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Quorum is the minimum number of members needed to conduct a meeting of a House.
• ✗Mandate is the authority given to a party or government by the voters to carry out its programme.
• ✗Swing is the change in the share of votes for a party between two elections.