Women turn out in greater numbers than in previous elections

New Delhi: As the Lok Sabha polls closed with the conclusion of the seventh and final phase on Sunday, data for the first four phases show that women turned out in far greater numbers to vote this time than they did before.

While the average turnout of men was 68.3% in the first four phases of polling held from April 11 to April 29, the figure for women was 68%, according to data made available by the Election Commission of India. The number of women voters in these phases was 203.1 million compared with 215 million for men. Polling in the four phases was recorded at 69.5%, 68.44%, 68.4% and 65.51%, respectively, with the turnout of women almost at the same level.

The turnout of women exceeded that of men in at least nine states and Union Territories, with the highest in Manipur at 84.16% and Meghalaya at 73.64%, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Uttarakhand, Goa, Mizoram and Lakshadweep.

In Kerala, where violence followed the Supreme Court’s verdict allowing women and girls to enter the Sabarimala temple, the female voter turnout this time was 78.8%, higher than the 76.47% for men. In 2014, the figures were almost even at 73.84% for women and 73.96% for men.

Women voters outnumbered men by a wider margin in states such as Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal, where voting took place in seven phases, with a 10 percentage point difference in Bihar. Arunachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were the other states that saw a huge turnout among women.

In states where the turnout of men outnumbered the women – Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka – there was an increase in the number of female voters, narrowing the gap between them.

Gujarat recorded men outnumbering women with the highest margin, but the state saw an increase in women voter turnout as compared to 2014. The turnout of women voters this time was 60.9%, while it was 67.08% for men. In 2014, women’s turnout was 59.42% vis-a vis 67.14% for men.

In Karnataka, the turnout of women voters was 67.63% this time compared with 65.73% in 2014.

In Uttar Pradesh, the overall turnout of women was 58.44% in the first four phases compared with 57.42% in all nine phases in 2014.