How India runs the world's biggest election

900 million eligible voters need access to polling booths.

Elections in India aren’t like others. India voted to pick its central government for the next five years throughout the spring of 2019. An eighth of the world’s entire population was eligible to vote in this election. That’s 900 million people, and more than 67 percent voted.

India runs the world’s biggest elections, and officials put in a lot of effort to make this democratic exercise is as accessible as possible. This means they make sure everyone, even in the most remote locations, is near a polling booth — even if it means bringing voting machines to them by elephant.

This Vox Borders episode looks at how India pulls off massive elections.

Watch all the episodes of Vox Borders: India here:

Vox Borders is an international documentary series by Emmy-nominated producer Johnny Harris exploring life at the edge of nations.

Start from the beginning. Watch all full episodes of Vox Borders on YouTube in one playlist:

[johnnyharris]

Hey everyone, I hope you liked Episode two! I learned a ton on this one. I'm curious to hear what was the most surprising thing to you in this episode.
See you next week!

[NateandNoahTryLife]

1/8th of the world’s population was eligible to vote in this election.

That blew my mind.

[AdityaGhosh]

No stereotypical Indian music, well researched, unprejudiced... American mainstream media watch and learn

[Psyduck_]

My grandmother is 77 and when she go with my father to vote i can see the smile on her face.. a smile of pride ..
As she was born before independence of India she admire the election and her right to vote!

[cassidyeckman]

This dedication to equality in a developing nation is not only inspiring, but something that needs to be shared globally so that people understand how much work India is putting into their progress

[PulakitBharti]

What is more surprising for me is that everyone is so surprised, and we in India take this luxury of democracy for granted.

[vaishnodevsingh]

I was a polling officer in this year's election for the first time and the experience was incredible. The sheer scale of it was tempting.

[yiliang]

i can't help but smile when i see the youngsters could finally vote!! Really wish the best for them!! From China

[MultiSciGeek]

US: You have to climb a mountain to go vote
India: Election comes to your doorstep

This is what an honest approach to democracy looks like! Well done India

[charlenecamilleri]

Wow. Our country is small and theres about 70 different places to vote and many people still refuse to vote. Nice to see large countries like India care enough for it

[jagdishvarma]

I flew from Germany to cast my vote. Even though I am non resident, they consider my opinion as I am part of India.

[dhruvdatta]

This guy gets everything right:
1.States all the facts instead of making assumptions.
2.Presents the fact that we don't only speak one language and understands the magnitude of cultural diversity.
3.None of that annoying stereotypical Indian music.

[rockybond]

Now THIS is how western media should do a piece about India. 10/10. Borders is my favorite part of Vox for a reason.

[abhishek]

Fun fact

In Gujarat, India
Election commission sets up polling both in middle of jungle just for One person!


Edit- sadly that guy died few months ago.

[AK-mmby]

Election having more than 1 candidate is always complicated.
Jong -Un

[snvsr]

Actually, fun story: I was in India during the 2019 elections (my family and I had to go for a family emergency). I had never seen an Indian election in India before, I had always watched it on the news. But it was super cool to see and watch everything going on outside our home! It was insanely organized, right down to the last voter. If only bigger countries could adopt this model.
Edit: Also, I recommend the movie _Newton_ to anybody interested in this subject. It's about officials trying to get tribal people in India to vote, even though there's only 76 of them and they live in the depths of a jungle.

[kartikuchil]

For anyone interested, there's a movie called "Newton" which based on the hardships faced by an election official during voting day in a remote, millitant infested region in India

[nakenmil]

I spent six months working in India a while back, and during my stay, many of my Indian coworkers made legitimate complaints about political problems in India: corruption, political dynasties, and other things. And I agree, there is still a lot to root out. But there's one thing I can't shake: throughout its independent existence, India has never had a military coup. Never had a dictator take power. And quite frankly, that's better than much of the world, so kudos.

[oliverqueen]

Election in India is like a festival, rather than democratic exercise

[shahanshahpolonium]

USA : So, how can we exclude these people from voting?
India : *literally carry an election booth so that some lonely dude in a jungle can vote