Chennai: Nearly 20,000 more voters turned up at polling stations in 16 constituencies on April 23 compared to the 2021 assembly elections, at the peak of the second wave of Covid-19.On Saturday, after re-verifying polling booth data and adding postal ballots, the ECI put the total votes cast in Chennai at 24.41 lakh. Postal ballots – which include votes cast by the elderly at home, people on essential duty, election staff and police personnel – yielded 20,189 votes.With postal ballots, the increase in 2026 reaches 24,560 votes compared to 2021. The increase in voting percentage is not only because of SIR (Special Intensive Revision), which has reduced the city’s roll from 48 lakh to 28.3 lakh, but also because more people have come to vote in eight of the 16 constituencies.

This year’s trends show both continuity and change from 2021. Voting percentage was high in RK Nagar (90.56) and Perambur (89.74). But, while Perambur – where TVK leader Vijay is contesting – got 3,662 more votes than last time, RK Nagar polled 6,103 fewer votes. With 2.03 lakh votes, Perambur recorded the highest number of votes in the city, followed by Velachery with 1.83 lakh, a constituency that recorded the lowest turnout in 2021. Chief Minister MK Stalin’s Kolathur recorded 1.82 lakh votes. Apart from the third highest number of votes, Kolathur also recorded the biggest increase between the two elections, adding 10,726 votes. Election experts say these additions could prove crucial in a city where many constituencies have historically been decided by narrow margins. “This time we have a third player and the margins may narrow. This is a seat-by-seat election and who splits whose votes – and who manages to retain their base – will decide the outcome,” said Arun Krishnamurthy, election analyst at Krish Info Media.In 2021, DMK won T Nagar by just 137 votes; In 2016, Perambur was decided by a margin of 519 votes. In at least six constituencies – including Anna Nagar, Virugambakkam, Thiru-Vee-Ka Nagar, T Nagar, Harbor and Thiruvottiyur – the victory margin in 2016 was less than 5,000 votes. Yet, the civic engagement gap in the city remains glaring. This year too, 4.7 lakh people did not vote, which is slightly more than the number of voters in Madhavaram.GCC Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran said, “Sir, this is the best sweep program done by GCC. If we had worked hard with awareness, we could have reached 90%.”