trivia
9th April 2019
General elections 2019 trivia: In first general election, candidates had separate ballot boxes
Independent India held its first general elections in 1951 and almost 1,874 candidates contested from 54 political parties in that election.
Before the introduction of the electronic voting machine (EVM) or the voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT), elections were conducted using paper ballots.
In 1951-52 and 1957, every candidate was allotted a separate ballot box at each polling station in which each voter had to drop their ballot papers into the box of the candidates of their choice.
In 2019, about 90
crore eligible voters will cast their votes to elect their preferred candidates on VVPAT machines. 
