India, Nov. 7 -- The first phase of polling in 121 out of the 243 assembly constituencies (AC) in Bihar is now done. According to the voter turnout data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) as of 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, the voter turnout in all these ACs combined is 64.66%.

This number is 9.3 and 8.8 percentage points higher than the turnout in these ACs in the 2024 Lok Sabha or 2020 assembly elections, respectively, and in fact the highest in any state or national election in Bihar since the 2010 state election, the earliest period for which we have comparable AC boundaries and AC-level turnout data.

To be sure, the impressive increase in voter turnout numbers should not be taken at face value. This is because Bihar's elec...