Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. All election data on Know Your Election is sourced from the Election Commission of India (ECI) and other official government records. We cross-verify our data for accuracy. If you spot any discrepancy, please report it via our Contact Us page or email us at knowyourelection@gmail.com.

No. Know Your Election is an independent platform. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Election Commission of India or any political party. We are a non-partisan data and information resource built to promote electoral awareness among Indian citizens.

Absolutely. Know Your Election is completely free for all users. We believe that election data is a public good and should be accessible to every citizen. The website is supported by advertisements, which help us maintain and improve the platform.

Lok Sabha (Parliament) elections are held to elect Members of Parliament (MPs) to the lower house of India's national legislature. There are 543 elected seats, and elections are held every 5 years across the entire country simultaneously. Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) elections elect Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to each state's legislature. Each state has its own election cycle, and the number of seats varies by state — for example, Uttar Pradesh has 403 seats while Goa has 40.

The Indian Constitution reserves certain constituencies for candidates from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) to ensure representation of historically marginalized communities. In these constituencies, only candidates belonging to SC or ST communities can contest, though all registered voters can vote. The number and location of reserved seats are determined by the Delimitation Commission based on population data. As of the 2024 elections, there are 84 SC-reserved and 47 ST-reserved Lok Sabha constituencies.

NOTA (None Of The Above) is an option on Indian ballot machines that allows voters to reject all candidates. Introduced in 2013 following a Supreme Court directive, NOTA lets voters formally register dissatisfaction without invalidating their vote. However, NOTA votes are only counted — they do not affect the election outcome. Even if NOTA receives more votes than any candidate, the candidate with the highest votes still wins. NOTA serves as a symbolic protest measure and a gauge of voter dissatisfaction.

Voter turnout is the percentage of registered electors who cast their votes. It is calculated as: (Total Votes Polled ÷ Total Registered Electors) × 100. Turnout varies significantly across constituencies and states. India's national average turnout has generally been between 55-68% in recent Lok Sabha elections, with the 2024 election seeing approximately 65.79% turnout. Higher turnout is often seen in states like Kerala, West Bengal, and the Northeast, while urban constituencies tend to have lower turnout.

Victory margin is the difference in votes between the winning candidate and the runner-up. A large margin indicates a dominant victory and a safe seat, while a narrow margin suggests a closely contested election. Margins are important for understanding competitive dynamics — a constituency with consistently narrow margins is a "swing seat" that could change hands. On our platform, we display both absolute margin (number of votes) and margin percentage (margin as a percentage of total votes polled) for every constituency.

Political alliances are coalitions of parties that contest elections together and coordinate seat-sharing. The two major national alliances are the NDA (National Democratic Alliance), led by BJP, and the INDIA alliance (previously UPA), led by Congress. Alliance partners agree not to field candidates against each other in certain constituencies to avoid splitting votes. After elections, alliance members support each other to form government. Our platform tracks party-wise results which help visualize alliance performance across states.

On any state's election results page, you can switch between different election years using the year selector. Each constituency detail page shows results for that specific year. For party-level trends, visit the Party Performance page (accessible from the navigation menu) which shows seats won, vote share trends, and state-wise breakdown across all election years. The State Hub pages also list all available election years for both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Each constituency page provides: the winning candidate's name, party, and votes; complete candidate-wise results with votes and vote share; total electors and votes polled; voter turnout percentage; victory margin (absolute and percentage); constituency type (General, SC, or ST); a visual bar chart comparing candidate performances; and the election year. For Lok Sabha constituencies, we cover elections from 1951 onwards where data is available.

Yes. Our Party Performance pages show comprehensive party statistics including: total seats won across all states, state-wise seat breakdown, historical performance over multiple elections, and vote share trends. You can access party performance data from the navigation menu or by clicking on a party name anywhere on the site.

If you find any data discrepancy, please use the "Report Error" link available in the navigation menu, or email us directly at knowyourelection@gmail.com. Please include the constituency name, year, and specific data point that appears incorrect along with the correct information and its source. We investigate all reports and update our database promptly.

Vote share is the percentage of total votes a party receives, while seat share is the percentage of constituencies it wins. Due to India's FPTP system, these can differ dramatically. For example, a party may win 35% of votes nationally but secure 55% of seats because it won narrowly in many constituencies. Conversely, a party with 20% vote share might win very few seats if its votes are spread thinly across many constituencies rather than concentrated. This is why we display both metrics on our platform.

The Seat Share chart on constituency list pages shows the distribution of seats won by each political party in that state for the selected election year. Each bar represents a party, with the height indicating the number of seats won. This visualization helps quickly understand which parties dominated in a state and the level of political competition. Hover over bars to see exact seat counts.

Independent candidates (those not affiliated with any recognized political party) are tracked individually in our constituency-level data. In party-wise aggregations and charts, all independents are typically grouped under the "IND" or "Independent" label. This means the "Independent" category in party charts represents the combined seats won by all independent candidates, not a single entity.

You can reach us via email at knowyourelection@gmail.com. We welcome feedback, data correction reports, feature suggestions, and general inquiries. We typically respond within 48 hours. You can also use the Contact Us page on our website for more options.