NEW DELHI: Transgender persons, who were allowed to vote for the first time as the third gender in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, did not exercise their franchise in large numbers, with only 23 per cent of them voting in the national capital, according to statistics released by the office of the chief electoral officer, Delhi.
According to the CEO, the total number of transgender voters registered was 693, of which only 160 cast their vote.
This is the first time that transgender voters voted under the category ‘third gender’, following a Supreme Court order in 2014. Earlier, they had to vote as a male or female.
In order to make them aware of their voting right, the CEO had involved NGOs and conducted a door-to-door survey to identify and register transgender persons who were yet to get a voter ID card.
North West Delhi constituency had 158 transgender electors, the maximum among the seven constituencies in the capital, while only 24 transgender voters had registered in New Delhi, the fewest in a constituency in Delhi.
However, Chandni Chowk constituency saw the maximum number of transgender votes, with 43 out of 132 eligible transgender voters exercising their right to vote, whereas in New Delhi, just six transgender persons voted.
The North East Delhi constituency had 86 transgender electors, of which 27 voted, while in East Delhi 79 had registered and 28 voted, as per the statistics.
In West Delhi, out of 84 transgender electors, 14 cast their vote, while in South Delhi, only 18 of the 130 registered voters voted—making it their lowest poll percentage of 14. In North West Delhi, 24 of the 158 registered transgender persons voted.
Delhi recorded 60.12 per cent turnout in the Lok Sabha polls held on Sunday, a drop of five percentage points from the turnout in the 2014 elections. The city has 1. 43 crore voters, of whom 86, 64, 276 voted.