May 25, 2009: India Votes

[xoxoxoBruce]

They're having an election in India, and with over a billion people that ain't easy.

On May 16th, 2009, the Election Commission of India announced the results of its recent month-long India-wide election for their lower house of Parliament - the largest democratic election in the world. An estimated 714 million voters (from a population of 1.2 billion) were eligible to cast their vote in one of five separate phases at over 800,000 polling stations, starting on April 16th. Logistically difficult, massive in scale, and opposed by various rebel groups, separatists and protestors, the elections still managed to be held with minimal disruption, with an average voter turnout of greater than 56%.

India's population ranges from poor illiterates to ultra high techies, so the electronic voting machines have pictograms along with the candidates names.
Maybe they should have done that in Minnesota.



The voter's finger is marked with indelible ink, like we saw in Iraq.



Like everywhere, the paparazzi follow the famous.

Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan (center), son Abhishek Bachchan (right), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (2nd from left) and Jaya Bachchan display their ink-stained fingers after casting votes at a polling center in Mumbai April 30, 2009

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