April 19, 2024 marked the fifth occasion in which Tamil Nadu had single-phase polling for the Lok Sabha election. Till the 1999 election, the State had polling in two phases. At that time, 21 constituencies went to the polls on September 11, and the rest six days earlier. As is the case now, voters had to wait for over a month for the results to be declared.
It was in 2004 that the State switched to polls in one phase. In the 2001 Assembly election, electors all over the State cast their vote on the same day. It was then that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were introduced throughout Tamil Nadu. Apart from other malpractices or shortcomings that characterised the elections till 1999, multi-phase polling gave room for the criticism that impersonation was carried out in a considerable manner.
