Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The last steps of the great Indian ballot

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Security team follows polling officials carrying EVMs and other election materials at a distribution centre in BS College Danapur, Patna, on the eve of the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 31, 2024.

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A recreational facility awaits children outside a pink booth set up to empower safe, accessible voting for women in Kolkata, India, on June 1, 2024.  

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Young women show their inked fingers after casting votes at a polling booth in Patna Women's College, Bihar, on June 1, 2024.

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Women from Danapur-Diyara, a village 12 km from Patna, pose for a photo after casting their vote at a polling booth on June 1, 2024, in Patna, India. Most villagers from Diyala take rickety wooden boats across the Ganga to reach Patna.

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Catholic nuns from the Missionaries of Charity, the global order of nuns founded by Saint Mother Teresa, wait in a line to vote at a polling station during the seventh and last phase of India's general election in Kolkata, India, on June 1, 2024.

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A cheerful polling official puts an election print material to use, shielding herself from scorching heat at a distribution centre in Gandhi Maidan, Patna, on the eve of the final phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 31, 2024.

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Polling officials gather around a water tanker to fill their bottles at a distribution centre for election materials ahead of the seventh and last phase of India's general election on a hot summer day in Varanasi on May 31, 2024.

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Portraits of Sikh gurus flank polling officers in a hall set up as a polling station in Faridkot district, Punjab, on June 1, 2024.

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Supporters of Sikh separatist leader Amritpal Singh, an independent candidate, sit under shade outside a polling station in a village in Firozpur, Punjab, on June 1, 2024.

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A man holds his son as he votes at a polling station on June 1, 2024, during the seventh and last phase of the general election in Firozpur district, Punjab.

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The driver of the iconic, dwindling yellow taxi shows his inked finger after casting his ballot to vote during the seventh and final phase of voting in India's general election, along a street in Kolkata on June 1, 2024. The dwindling metered yellow taxis can now be booked through an app, a brainchild of West Bengal's Department of Information Technology & Electronics.

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A man walking with his ponies shows an indelible ink mark on his finger after casting his vote in Kufri, Himachal Pradesh state, on June 1, 2024. Over the last year, the National Green Tribunal panel has heavily criticised horses and ponies for damaging Kufri's green forest.

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Monks of ISKCON Temple sing and chant with gusto while in a queue to cast their ballots at La Martiniere School on June 1, 2024, in Kolkata.

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Polling officials seal electronic voting machines at a polling booth at the end of the voting day on June 1, 2024, in Varanasi, India. The Election Commission of India has deployed advanced technology, including electronic voting machines and a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, to ensure a secure and transparent voting process.