CHENNAI: In tune with the statewide trend, women voters drove the marginal rise in overall turnout in Chennai in the Assembly elections held on Thursday. The drop in male voters appears linked to a higher number of men being deleted from the rolls compared to women during the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted ahead of the polls.
According to the official data, male voter turnout in Chennai dropped by 36,768 compared to the 2021 elections, while women voters recorded a substantial increase of 54,071 votes. In 2021, male voters turnout stood at 12.09 lakh, slightly higher than that of women at 11.94 lakh. However, in 2026, the trend reversed — male turnout declined to 11.72 lakh, while women surpassed men at 12.48 lakh.
However, looking into the SIR deletion data, it shows that the male voter share fell by 30% (from 19.62 to 13.65 lakh), compared to women voters, which dropped by only 28% (from 20.41 to 14.64 lakh). The overall turnout increased marginally from 24.18 lakh in 2021 to 24.21 lakh in 2026.
Interestingly, high-profile seats saw a notable increase in voter turnout. These include Kolathur, DMK president MK Stalin’s seat, which saw voter turnout rise by 9,043 (from 1.73 lakh in 2021 to 1.82 lakh in 2026). Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar, where AIADMK’s Porkodi Armstrong is in the fray, recorded an even sharper jump of 9,215 voters (from 1.33 lakh to 1.42 lakh). Velachery followed with an increase of 5,553 votes (1.77 lakh to 1.83 lakh), while Perambur, where actor-turned-politician Vijay of TVK was contesting, saw 3,086 additional votes compared to 2021, up from 1.99 lakh to 2.03 lakh.
North Chennai constituencies dominated the turnout chart, with RK Nagar (90.56%), Perambur (89.74%) and Kolathur (86.12%) leading the table. In contrast, south and central seats such as Mylapore (74.84%) and Saidapet (77.85%) lagged, though some northern constituencies like Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar also remained below 80%.