Source and method
Where the Election Lab's numbers come from, how they are calculated and what is left out.
Source
All results come from the Election Commission of India. The Election Lab covers every Lok Sabha election from 2009 to 2024 (2,156 seat results) and assembly elections from 2009 to 2026 (14,481 seat results across 31 states and Union Territories).
How the numbers are calculated
Margin is the winner's votes minus the runner-up's. Margin share is that figure divided by total votes cast. Vote share is a candidate's votes divided by total votes cast. “Decided by under 5%” means a margin share below 5%.
What is left out
36 assembly results and 1 Lok Sabha result are excluded from margin figures, because the seat was unopposed or its margin could not be verified. Turnout is shown where seat-level figures exist, which is about 86% of assembly results. Four single-seat Union Territories are not yet in the Lok Sabha data.
Seats that changed
Constituencies are matched by their number. After boundary redraws in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Assam, and Jammu and Kashmir, earlier results belong to different seats and are not shown as one history.
Maps and tools
Boundaries come from public datasets, and some city seats are approximate. The swing simulator applies a uniform swing across seats, so it is a first estimate, not a forecast.
By-elections
Results for 90 assembly by-elections held between May 2022 and July 2026 appear on the seat pages, in the results table and the bar chart. Their vote counts come from the Election Commission's results and public results tables, checked against each other and against the reported margins. Turnout is not shown for by-elections, and two Sikkim seats, Namchi–Singhithang and Soreng–Chakung, were won unopposed. State pages, the tools and the Analysis page use general elections only.
Polls held later
Five seats voted after the rest of their state, because a candidate died or polling was cancelled: Sohiong (Meghalaya, 2023), Patkura (Odisha, 2019), Ramgarh (Rajasthan, 2018), and Thanjavur and Aravakurichi (Tamil Nadu, 2016). Each result is counted as part of that election. Turnout is not shown for them.
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